cup vs plate

cup

noun
  • A contest for which a cup is awarded. 

  • That which is to be received or indured; that which is allotted to one; a portion of blessings and afflictions. 

  • A concave vessel for drinking from, usually made of opaque material (as opposed to a glass) and with a handle. 

  • A rigid concave protective covering for the male genitalia. 

  • A Canadian unit of measure equal to 8 imperial ounces (¹⁄₂₀ imperial gallon; 227.3 mL) or 250 mL. 

  • A flexible concave membrane used to temporarily attach a handle or hook to a flat surface by means of suction. 

  • The main knockout tournament in a country, organised alongside the league. 

  • The contents of said vessel. 

  • A suit of the minor arcana in tarot, or one of the cards from the suit. 

  • Anything shaped like a cup. 

  • The symbol ∪ denoting union and similar operations. 

  • A cup-shaped object placed in the target hole. 

  • Prefixed with a letter, used as a measurement of bra or breast size. 

  • A trophy in the shape of an oversized cup. 

  • A cupping glass or other vessel or instrument used to produce the vacuum in cupping. 

  • A defensive style characterized by a three player near defense cupping the thrower; or those three players. 

  • Any of various sweetened alcoholic drinks. 

  • A US unit of liquid measure equal to 8 fluid ounces (¹⁄₁₆ of a US gallon; 236.5882365 mL) or 240 mL. 

  • One of the two parts of a brassiere which each cover a breast. 

verb
  • To pour (a liquid, drink, etc.) into a cup. 

  • To form into the shape of a cup, particularly of the hands. 

  • To hold something in cupped hands. 

  • To make concave or in the form of a cup. 

plate

noun
  • A prize given to the winner in a contest. 

  • A slightly curved but almost flat dish from which food is served or eaten. 

  • A flat electrode such as can be found in an accumulator battery, or in an electrolysis tank. 

  • One of the thin parts of the brisket of an animal. 

  • A horizontal framing member at the top or bottom of a group of vertical studs. 

  • Plate armor. 

  • An illustration in a book, either black and white, or colour, usually on a page of paper of different quality from the text pages. 

  • A very light steel horseshoe for racehorses. 

  • Any flat piece of material such as coated glass or plastic. 

  • A vehicle license plate. 

  • The ability of a travel agent to issue tickets on behalf of a particular airline. 

  • A record, usually vinyl. 

  • A course at a meal. 

  • A weighted disk, usually of metal, with a hole in the center for use with a barbell, dumbbell, or exercise machine. 

  • A shaped and fitted surface, usually ceramic or metal that fits into the mouth and in which teeth are implanted; a dental plate. 

  • Home plate. 

  • The contents of such a dish. 

  • Precious metal, especially silver. 

  • A foot, from "plates of meat". 

  • A taxi permit, especially of a metal disc. 

  • A layer of a material on the surface of something, usually qualified by the type of the material; plating 

  • A tectonic plate. 

  • An image or copy. 

  • Any of various larger scales found in some reptiles. 

  • A flat object of uniform thickness. 

  • An engraved surface used to transfer an image to paper. 

  • The fine nap (as of beaver, musquash, etc.) on a hat whose body is made from inferior material. 

  • trauma plate. 

  • An agenda of tasks, problems, or responsibilities 

  • A material covered with such a layer. 

  • The anode of a vacuum tube. 

  • A roundel of silver or argent. 

  • Such dishes collectively. 

  • A VIN plate, particularly with regard to the car's year of manufacture. 

  • Skins for fur linings of garments, sewn together and roughly shaped, but not finally cut or fitted. 

verb
  • To place the various elements of a meal on the diner's plate prior to serving. 

  • To arm or defend with metal plates. 

  • To beat into thin plates. 

  • To specify which airline a ticket will be issued on behalf of. 

  • to categorise stamps based on their position on the original sheet, in order to reconstruct an entire sheet. 

  • (particularly with early British stamps) to identify the printing plate used. 

  • To cover the surface material of an object with a thin coat of another material, usually a metal. 

  • To score a run. 

How often have the words cup and plate occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )