Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An upward leap made by a trained horse without going forward and with a backward kick of the hind legs at the height of the leap.
- noun A playful leap or jump; a caper.
- intransitive verb To perform a capriole.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To execute a capriole; leap; skip.
- noun A caper or leap, as in dancing; a sudden bound; a spring.
- noun In the manège, an upward spring or leap made by a horse without advancing, the hind legs being jerked out when at the height of the leap.
- noun A kind of head-dress worn by women.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To perform a capriole.
- noun (Man.) A leap that a horse makes with all fours, upwards only, without advancing, but with a kick or jerk of the hind legs when at the height of the leap.
- noun A leap or caper, as in dancing.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a playful leap or hop
- verb perform a capriole, in ballet
- verb perform a capriole, of horses in dressage
- noun (dressage) a vertical jump of a trained horse with a kick of the hind legs at the top of the jump
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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Beth played exquisitely and taught me the latest French gigue, much more complicated, with a very quick capriole in the first pass.
Exit the Actress Priya Parmar 2011
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“Glad dance: four count rhythm, jeté on the first pass, capriole on the second,” Lacy called out, banging his counting stick on the floor.
Exit the Actress Priya Parmar 2011
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“Glad dance: four count rhythm, jeté on the first pass, capriole on the second,” Lacy called out, banging his counting stick on the floor.
Exit the Actress Priya Parmar 2011
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Beth played exquisitely and taught me the latest French gigue, much more complicated, with a very quick capriole in the first pass.
Exit the Actress Priya Parmar 2011
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Wif hur noo war-fiting mooves ai think teh “levade” and teh “capriole” cud bee spechullee skaree – yoo mite bee safer eben tahn wif the speshul CHRG! booklion says:
draw me - Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger? 2008
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Borumoter first took his gage at lil lolly lavvander waader since when capriole legs covets limbs of a crane and was it the twylyd or the mounth of the yare or the feint of her smell made the seo-men assalt of her (in imageascene all: whimwhim whimwhim).
Finnegans Wake 2006
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Into the depths of these forests we were to penetrate in pursuit of our game, and finer covers to be stocked with cingale and capriole, or bolder scenery for the theatre of our sylvan sport, can scarcely be imagined.
Rambles in the Islands of Corsica and Sardinia with Notices of their History, Antiquities, and Present Condition. Thomas Forester
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Instead of viewing him on a fiery Pegasus, and "snatching a grace beyond the reach of art," we behold the author mounted on a strange animal, something between a rough Welsh poney and a Peruvian sheep, whose utmost capriole only tends to land him in the mud.
Early Reviews of English Poets John Louis Haney
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Dressage terms like; capriole, levade, piaffe, pirouette, sound very much like those used in classical ballet and definitely equal the precision, control and athleticism required of a prima ballerina, yet these are the movements of a 1200 lb. horse.
unknown title 2009
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Dressage terms like; capriole, levade, piaffe, pirouette, sound very much like those used in classical ballet and definitely equal the precision, control and athleticism required of a prima ballerina, yet these are the movements of a 1200 lb. horse.
unknown title 2009
chained_bear commented on the word capriole
"Like the satyr, the Devil is a rakishly handsome man with at least one cloven hoof, a long tail, horns or goat's ears. Both are master musicians—the satyr plays the lyre or pipes, the Devil the violin. Both scamper in dance-like movements of the goat, performing caprioles."
—Steven Lonsdale, quoted in Barbara Ehrenreich, Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2006), 81
March 14, 2009