Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A usually soft and close-fitting head covering, either having no brim or with a visor.
- noun A special head covering worn to indicate rank, occupation, or membership in a particular group.
- noun An academic mortarboard. Used especially in the phrase cap and gown.
- noun A protective cover or seal, especially one that closes off an end or a tip.
- noun A crown for covering or sealing a tooth.
- noun A truck cap.
- noun A tread for a worn pneumatic tire.
- noun A fitted covering used to seal a well or large pipe.
- noun A summit or top, as of a mountain.
- noun An upper limit; a ceiling.
- noun Architecture The capital of a column.
- noun The top part, or pileus, of a mushroom.
- noun A calyptra.
- noun A percussion cap.
- noun A small explosive charge enclosed in paper for use in a toy gun.
- noun Any of several sizes of writing paper, such as foolscap.
- noun Sports An appearance by a player in an international soccer game, traditionally rewarded with a hat.
- transitive verb To cover, protect, or seal with a cap.
- transitive verb To award a special cap to as a sign of rank or achievement.
- transitive verb To lie over or on top of; cover.
- transitive verb To apply the finishing touch to; complete.
- transitive verb To follow with something better; surpass or outdo.
- transitive verb To set an upper limit on.
- idiom (cap in hand) Humbly or submissively.
- idiom (set (one's) cap for) To attempt to attract and win as a mate.
- noun A capital letter.
- transitive verb To capitalize.
- noun Capital.
- noun Capitalization.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To put a cap on; cover with or as with a cap, in any sense of that word; cover the head, top, end, or some particular part of: as, to
cap a dunce at school; to cap (the nipple of) a gun. - To complete; consummate; crown; bring to a climax; follow up with something more remarkable than what has previously been done: as, to
cap a story with its moral; he capped this exploit by another still more audacious. - To puzzle.
- To deprive of the cap.
- To salute by taking off the cap: as, to
cap a proctor. - To uncover the head in reverence or civility.
- noun A wooden bowl: as, a cap of porridge and milk. Also
caup . - To arrest.
- To seize; lay hold of violently; specifically, to seize (a vessel) as a prize; hence, to entrap or insnare.
- To chap, as the hands.
- To wrinkle.
- To coagulate.
- An abbreviation of capital;
- of Latin caput or capitulum, chapter;
- in printing, of capitalize.
- noun A covering for the head; a hood; now, especially, a head-covering or head-dress made of soft material and usually fitting more closely to the head than a hat.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word cap.
Examples
-
[_He takes off his cap and puts on a woolen cap_.]
-
*applies latex swim cap to hold skull togedder, then CHRG wdoi ober the swim cap*
i told u - Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger? 2008
-
A single multivitamin cap is just not potent enough to provide serious immune support, no matter what the company tells you.
-
In the full-dress of the court, the tall black lambskin cap is changed for a turban of shawl; and in place of the stockings without shoes, on entering the room a pair of red cloth boots reaching to the knee is worn.
-
The term "cap" appears to refer to a limit on construction costs.
The Seattle Times 2011
-
Phone cap term should be banned when advertising deals, says ACMA MOBILE phone companies should be banned from using the term "cap" when advertising deals, a report recommends.
-
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told CNBC this week that "the term cap and trade is not in the lexicon anymore."
-
The term cap and trade didn't exist until the mid-1990s, but by that time the idea had already served as the centerpiece of a landmark environmental law.
NPR Topics: News 2010
-
The term cap and trade didn't exist until the mid-1990s, but by that time the idea had already served as the centerpiece of a landmark environmental law.
NPR Topics: News 2010
-
In response, Dems are dropping the term cap-and-trade to try and spin the bill in a new way.
Latest Articles 2010
-
A new, more transparent measure of executive earnings, known as Compensation Actually Paid (CAP), factors that in, and, unsurprisingly, it paints an even more astronomical picture of CEO pay.
Survival of the Greediest Katie Jgln 2025
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.