cap

¹

[ kap ]

noun

1. a close-fitting covering for the head, usually of soft supple material and having no visor or brim.
2. a brimless head covering with a visor, as a baseball cap.
3. a mobcap.
4. a headdress denoting rank, occupation, religious order, or the like:

   a nurse's cap.

5. mortarboard ( def 2 ).
6. Mathematics. the symbol ∩, used to indicate the intersection of two sets. Compare intersection ( def 3a ).
7. anything resembling or suggestive of a covering for the head in shape, use, or position:

   a cap on a bottle.

8. summit; top; apex; acme.
9. a maximum limit, as one set by law or agreement on prices, wages, spending, etc., during a certain period of time; ceiling:

   a 9 percent cap on pay increases for this year.

10. Mycology. the pileus of a mushroom.
11. Botany. calyptra ( def 1 ).
12. Mining. a short, horizontal beam at the top of a prop for supporting part of a roof.
13. a percussion cap.
14. British Sports. a selection for a representative team, usually for a national squad.
15. a noise-making device for toy pistols, made of a small quantity of explosive wrapped in paper or other thin material.
16. Nautical. a fitting of metal placed over the head of a spar, as a mast or bowsprit, and having a collar for securing an additional spar.
17. a new tread applied to a worn pneumatic tire.
18. Architecture. a capital.
19. Carpentry. a metal plate placed over the iron of a plane to break the shavings as they rise.
20. Fox Hunting. capping fee.
21. Chiefly British Slang. a contraceptive diaphragm.

verb (used with object)

, capped, cap·ping.

1. to provide or cover with or as if with a cap.
2. to complete.
3. follow up with something as good or better; surpass; outdo:

   to cap one joke with another.

4. to serve as a cap, covering, or top to; overlie.
5. to put a maximum limit on (prices, wages, spending, etc.).
6. British Sports. to select (a player) for a representative team.

verb (used without object)

, capped, cap·ping.

1. Fox Hunting. to hunt with a hunting club of which one is not a member, on payment of a capping fee.

cap.

²

abbreviation for

1. (in prescriptions) let the patient take.

cap

³

[ kap ]

noun

1. a capital letter.
2. Usually caps. uppercase:

   Please set the underlined in caps.

verb (used with object)

, capped, cap·ping.

1. to write or print in capital letters, or make an initial letter a capital; capitalize.

cap.

⁴

abbreviation for

1. chapter.

cap

⁵

[ kap ]

noun

, Slang.

1. a capsule, especially of a narcotic drug.

cap.

⁶

abbreviation for

1. capacity.
2. capital.
3. capitalize.
4. capitalized.
5. capital letter.
6. foolscap.

CAP

⁷

abbreviation for

1. Civil Air Patrol def.
2. Common Agricultural Policy: a coordinated system established in 1960 by the European Economic Community for stabilizing prices of farm products of its member countries.
3. computer-aided publishing.
4. Stock Exchange. convertible adjustable preferred (stock).

cap.

¹

abbreviation for

1. capital
2. capitalize
3. capitalization
4. capital letter

cap

²

/ kæp /

noun

1. a covering for the head, esp a small close-fitting one made of cloth or knitted
2. such a covering serving to identify the wearer's rank, occupation, etc

   a nurse's cap

3. something that protects or covers, esp a small lid or cover

   lens cap

4. an uppermost surface or part

   the cap of a wave

5. 1. See percussion cap
   2. a small amount of explosive enclosed in paper and used in a toy gun
6. sport
   1. an emblematic hat or beret given to someone chosen for a representative team

      he has won three England caps

   2. a player chosen for such a team
7. the upper part of a pedestal in a classical order
8. the roof of a windmill, sometimes in the form of a dome
9. botany the pileus of a mushroom or toadstool
10. hunting
    1. money contributed to the funds of a hunt by a follower who is neither a subscriber nor a farmer, in return for a day's hunting
    2. a collection taken at a meet of hounds, esp for a charity
11. anatomy
    1. the natural enamel covering a tooth
    2. an artificial protective covering for a tooth
12. See Dutch cap
13. an upper financial limit
14. a mortarboard when worn with a gown at an academic ceremony (esp in the phrase cap and gown )
15. meteorol
    1. the cloud covering the peak of a mountain
    2. the transient top of detached clouds above an increasing cumulus
16. cap in hand
    humbly, as when asking a favour
17. if the cap fits
    the allusion or criticism seems to be appropriate to a particular person
18. set one's cap for or set one's cap at
    (of a woman) to be determined to win as a husband or lover

verb

1. to cover, as with a cap

   snow capped the mountain tops

2. informal.
   to outdo; excel

   your story caps them all

   to cap an anecdote

3. to cap it all
   to provide the finishing touch

   we had sun, surf, cheap wine, and to cap it all a free car

4. sport to select (a player) for a representative team

   he was capped 30 times by Scotland

5. to seal off (an oil or gas well)
6. to impose an upper limit on the level of increase of (a tax, such as the council tax)

   rate-capping

7. hunting to ask (hunt followers) for a cap
8. to award a degree to

CAP

³

abbreviation for

1. Common Agricultural Policy: (in the EU) the system for supporting farm incomes by maintaining agricultural prices at agreed levels

Derived Forms

• ˈcapper, noun

Other Words From

• capless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of cap¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English cappe “headdress, hat, cap,” Old English cæppe “hood, cape, cope,” from Late Latin cappa “hooded cloak, cap”; cape ¹

Origin of cap²

From the Latin word capiat

Origin of cap³

First recorded in 1895–1900; by shortening

Origin of cap⁴

From Latin capitulum “small head, capital of a column, cross beam” or Latin caput “head, to, summit, person”

Origin of cap⁵

First recorded in 1940–45; by shortening of capsule

Word History and Origins

Origin of cap¹

Old English cæppe, from Late Latin cappa hood, perhaps from Latin caput head

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. cap in hand, humbly; in supplication:

   He went to his father cap in hand and begged his forgiveness.

2. set one's cap for, to pursue as being a potential mate.

More idioms and phrases containing cap

• feather in one's cap
• hat (cap) in hand
• if the shoe (cap) fits, wear it
• put on one's thinking cap
• set one's cap for
• hat

Related Words

• beret