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cap1

[kap]
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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. 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; 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Origin of cap1

before 1000; Middle English cappe, Old English cæppe < Late Latin cappa hooded cloak, cap; cf. cape1
Related formscap·less, adjective

cap2

[kap]
noun
  1. a capital letter.
  2. Usually caps. uppercase: Please set the underlined in caps.
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verb (used with object), capped, cap·ping.
  1. to write or print in capital letters, or make an initial letter a capital; capitalize.
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Origin of cap2

First recorded in 1895–1900; by shortening

cap3

[kap]
noun Slang.
  1. a capsule, especially of a narcotic drug.
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Origin of cap3

by shortening of capsule

CAP

  1. Civil Air Patrol.
  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).
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Also C.A.P. (for defs 1, 2, 4).

cap.1

  1. (in prescriptions) let the patient take.
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Origin of cap.1

From the Latin word capiat

cap.2

  1. chapter.
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Origin of cap.2

From the Latin word capitulum, caput

cap.3

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

[wahyn-bur-ger]
noun
  1. Caspar W(illard)Cap, 1917–2006, U.S. government official: Secretary of Defense 1981–87.
  2. Ja·ro·mir [yahr-uh-meer] /ˈyɑr əˌmɪər/, 1896–1967, Czech composer, in the U.S.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for cap

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • "I'll walk a bit with you," said his sister, donning her jacket and a cap.

    The Spenders

    Harry Leon Wilson

  • "I'll come," said he, disappearing in search of cap and gloves.

    Viviette

    William J. Locke

  • I am afraid just now I am thinking more of the cap than of what it means.

    K

    Mary Roberts Rinehart

  • To save her cap she had taken it off, and early streaks of silver showed in her hair.

    K

    Mary Roberts Rinehart

  • When, at last, he rose and picked up his cap; it was nine o'clock.

    K

    Mary Roberts Rinehart

British Dictionary definitions for cap

cap

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, etca nurse's cap
  3. something that protects or covers, esp a small lid or coverlens cap
  4. an uppermost surface or partthe cap of a wave
    1. See percussion cap
    2. a small amount of explosive enclosed in paper and used in a toy gun
  6. sport, mainly British
    1. an emblematic hat or beret given to someone chosen for a representative teamhe 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 (def. 2)
  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 British 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
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verb caps, capping or capped (tr)
  1. to cover, as with a capsnow capped the mountain tops
  2. informal to outdo; excelyour story caps them all; to cap an anecdote
  3. to cap it all to provide the finishing touchwe had sun, surf, cheap wine, and to cap it all a free car
  4. sport, British to select (a player) for a representative teamhe 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. mainly Scot and NZ to award a degree to
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Derived Formscapper, noun

Word Origin

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

CAP

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

abbreviation for
  1. capital
  2. capitalize
  3. capitalization
  4. capital letter
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for cap

n.

late Old English cæppe "hood, head-covering, cape," from Late Latin cappa "a cape, hooded cloak" (source of Spanish capa, Old North French cape, French chape), possibly a shortened from capitulare "headdress," from Latin caput "head" (see head (n.)).

Meaning "women's head covering" is early 13c. in English; extended to men late 14c. Figurative thinking cap is from 1839 (considering cap is 1650s). Of cap-like coverings on the ends of anything (e.g. hub-cap) from mid-15c. Meaning "contraceptive device" is first recorded 1916. That of "cap-shaped piece of copper lined with gunpowder and used to ignite a firearm" is c.1826; extended to paper version used in toy pistols, 1872 (cap-pistol is from 1879).

The Late Latin word apparently originally meant "a woman's head-covering," but the sense was transferred to "hood of a cloak," then to "cloak" itself, though the various senses co-existed. Old English took in two forms of the Late Latin word, one meaning "head-covering," the other "ecclesiastical dress" (see cape (n.1)). In most Romance languages, a diminutive of Late Latin cappa has become the usual word for "head-covering" (e.g. French chapeau).

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v.

c.1400, "to put a cap on," from cap (n.). Meaning "cover as with s cap" is from c.1600. Figurative sense of "go one better" is from 1580s. Related: Capped; capping.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
cap in Medicine

cap

(kăp)
n.
  1. A protective cover or seal, especially one that closes off an end or a tip and that resembles a close-fitting head covering.
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CAP

abbr.
  1. catabolite gene activator protein
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Idioms and Phrases with cap

cap

In addition to the idioms beginning with cap

  • cap and gown
  • cap in hand
  • cap it all

also see:

  • 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

Also see underhat.

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.