Meanings
tup1
plural tups
- The head of a hammer, and particularly of a steam-driven hammer.
Those familiar with drop forging are accustomed to sizing drop hammers as 1 ton or 5 ton or whatever. This measure of the size is simply the weight of the tup. The total weight of the helve of No 2 is about 6.4 tons.
1991, Dr J. McQuaid, “The 'Size' of the No.2 Hammer”, in The Cutting Edge2 more examples
https://web.archive.org/web/20060708012426/http://www.key-to-steel.com/Articles/Art168.htm This is the modern equivalent of smith forging where the limited force of the blacksmith has been replaced by the mechanical or steam hammer. The process can be carried out by open forging where the hammer is replaced by a tup and the metal is manipulated manually on an anvil.
https://web.archive.org/web/20060713221918/http://www.steelcorp.com/term.htm Rockwell hardness test: A method of measuring hardness. The hardness is expressed as a number related to the depth of the residual penetration. A test for determining the hardness of a material based on the depth of penetration of a specified penetrator in to the specimen under certain arbitrarily fixed condition of test. A hardness test where the loss in kinetic energy of a falling diamond tipped metal ‘tup’, absorbed by indentation upon impact of the tup on the metal being tested is indicated by the height of rebound.
present singular third person tups · participle present tupping · participle past tupped · past tupped
- To mate; used of a ram mating with a ewe.
The Langley Chase Flock - explanation of tupping Tupping is the term used for when the rams cover the ewes. For our flock, this takes place in November when the ewes naturally come into season.
1 more example
Even now, now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe.
c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]Synonyms: rut, Formal terms, bed, coit, coitize, dight, enjoy, feague
- slangTo have sex with, to bonk, etc.
I was the one who convinced her you would not tup her, and that if you did you would never lie with her against her will.
2003, Pierre Delattre, Woman on the Cross1 more example
I love her well enough to tup her, I suppose. A dangerous bit of business, that. She is as fertile as a bloody alluvial plain.
2001, Simon Hawke, A Mystery of ErrorsSynonyms: top up, Formal terms, bed, coit, coitize, dight, enjoy, feague
- EnglishregionalslangTo butt.
tup2
- uncountableTwo pence.
TUP3
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA male sheep, a ram.
verbTo mate; used of a ram mating with a ewe.
verbTo have sex with, to bonk, etc.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
tup · noun, verb
- Middle Englishtupe
- Englishtup
From Middle English tupe (compare Scots tuip), origin unknown.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan amarrir
- amarrirof a ram: to mate
Finnish sorkka, astua
- sorkkahead of a hammer
- astuaof a ram: to mate
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with tup
Anagrams
Cite this entry
tup. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tup
“tup.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tup. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tup,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tup.
Source: tup on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.