Part 711

Esau was a cunning hunter. Gen xxv. 27.

2. Wrought with, or exhibiting, skill or ingenuity; ingenious; curious; as, cunning work.

Over them Arachne high did lift Her cunning web. Spenser.

3. Crafty; sly; artful; designing; deceitful.

They are resolved to be cunning; let others run the hazard of being sincere. South.

4. Pretty or pleasing; as, a cunning little boy. [Colloq. U.S.] Barlett.

Syn. -- Cunning, Artful, Sly, Wily, Crafty. -- These epithets agree in expressing an aptitude for attaining some end by peculiar and secret means. Cunning is usually low; as, a cunning trick. Artful is more ingenious and inventive; as, an artful device. Sly implies a turn for what is double or concealed; as, sly humor; a sly evasion. Crafty denotes a talent for dexterously deceiving; as, a crafty manager. Wily describes a talent for the use of stratagems; as, a wily politician. "Acunning man often shows his dexterity in simply concealing. An artful man goes further, and exerts his ingenuity in misleading. A crafty man mingles cunning with art, and so shapes his actions as to lull suspicions. The young may be cunning, but the experienced only can be crafty. Slyness is a vulgar kind of cunning; the sly man goes cautiously and silently to work. Wiliness is a species of cunning or craft applicable only to cases of attack and defense." Crabb.

Cun"ning, n. [AS. cunnung trial, or Icel. kunnandi knowledge. See Cunning, a.] 1. Knowledge; art; skill; dexterity. [Archaic]

Let my right hand forget her cunning. Ps. cxxxvii. 5.

A carpenter's desert Stands more in cunning than in power. Chapman.

2. The faculty or act of using stratagem to accomplish a purpose; fraudulent skill or dexterity; deceit; craft.

Discourage cunning in a child; cunning is the ape of wisdom. Locke.

We take cunning for a sinister or crooked wisdom. Bacon.

Cun"ning*ly (k?n"n?ng-l?), adv. In a cunning manner; with cunning.

Cun"ning*man` (-m?n`), n. A fortune teller; one who pretends to reveal mysteries. [Obs.] Hudibras.

Cun"ning*ness, n. Quality of being cunning; craft.

Cup (kŭp), n. [AS. cuppe, LL. cuppa cup; cf. L. cupa tub, cask; cf. also Gr. ky`ph hut, Skr. kūpa pit, hollow, OSlav. kupa cup. Cf. Coop, Cupola, Cowl a water vessel, and Cob, Coif, Cop.] 1. A small vessel, used commonly to drink from; as, a tin cup, a silver cup, a wine cup; especially, in modern times, the pottery or porcelain vessel, commonly with a handle, used with a saucer in drinking tea, coffee, and the like.

2. The contents of such a vessel; a cupful.

Give me a cup of sack, boy. Shak.

3. pl. Repeated potations; social or excessive indulgence in intoxicating drinks; revelry.

Thence from cups to civil broils. Milton.

4. That which is to be received or indured; that which is allotted to one; a portion.

O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Matt. xxvi. 39.

5. Anything shaped like a cup; as, the cup of an acorn, or of a flower.

The cowslip's golden cup no more I see. Shenstone.

6. (Med.) A cupping glass or other vessel or instrument used to produce the vacuum in cupping.

Cup and ball, a familiar toy of children, having a cup on the top of a piece of wood to which, a ball is attached by a cord; the ball, being thrown up, is to be caught in the cup; bilboquet. Milman. -- Cup and can, familiar companions. -- Dry cup, Wet cup (Med.), a cup used for dry or wet cupping. See under Cupping. -- To be in one's cups, to be drunk.

Cup, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Cupped (kŭpt); p. pr. & vb. n. Cupping.] 1. To supply with cups of wine. [R.]