empty cup
Nothing inside container
An empty cup is a cup with nothing in it—a vessel awaiting contents.
The phrase often carries symbolic weight: in Zen teaching, one must approach learning with an empty cup, ready to receive rather than already full of assumptions.
Come with an empty cup and an open mind.
The image suggests receptivity, humility, or simply needing a refill.
- mugHandled cup for beverages
- vesselReceptacle for contents
- hollowEmpty within
- voidWithout legal effect
- drainedEmptied of resources
finished · bone dry · thirsty · refill · ceramic · handle · saucer · bottomless · dry · glass · porcelain · waiting · left behind · unfilled · blank · clean slate · coffee · tea
- Zenkoan, mu, zazen, satori, one hand clapping
fullness/capacity
empty cupfull cup
Vessel filled to capacity
brimming · abundance · cornucopia · satisfaction · fulfillment
empty, cup, emptied, emptying, empties, emptiness, cups, cupped, cupping