tempest in a teapot









tempest in a teapot


noun

  1. a cup in which tea is served, usually of small or moderate size.
  2. a teacupful.

Idioms

  1. tempest in a teacup/teapot, a disturbance or uproar about little or nothing: The fight over who should become the next assistant treasurer of the organization is just a tempest in a teacup.Also storm in a teacup.

noun

  1. a cup out of which tea may be drunk, larger than a coffee cup
  2. Also called: teacupful the amount a teacup will hold, about four fluid ounces

Also, tempest in a teacup. A great disturbance or uproar over a matter of little or no importance. For example, All that because a handful of the thousand invited guests didn’t show up? What a tempest in a teapot! This expression has appeared in slightly different forms for more than 300 years. Among the variations are storm in a cream bowl, tempest in a glass of water, and storm in a hand-wash basin. The British prefer storm in a teacup. The current American forms were first recorded in 1854. For a synonym, see much ado about nothing.

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