cap-a-pie

or cap-à-pie

[ kap-uh-pee ]

/ ˌkæp əˈpi /

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adverb

from head to foot.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of cap-a-pie

1515–25; <Middle French de cap a pe from head to foot <Old Provençal <Latin dē capite ad pedem

Words nearby cap-a-pie

capacity, cap and bells, cap and gown, cap and trade, Capaneus, cap-a-pie, caparison, capataz, cap cloud, Cap-de-la-Madeleine, cape

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use cap-a-pie in a sentence

Elodia rose to her full stature, armed cap-a-pie with her stateliest manner, but with a gracious sense of hospitality upon her.
Unveiling a Parallel|Alice Ilgenfritz Jones and Ella Marchant
The daily struggle would have worn me out; she returned, to it fresh each morning, armed at all points cap-a-pie.
I Walked in Arden|Jack Crawford
Just then who should come riding out of the gate but Gilles de Gurdun, armed cap-a-pie?
The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay|Maurice Hewlett
It represented a warrior with close-clipped hair, a long red beard, and armed cap-a-pie.
The Galley Slave's Ring|Eugne Sue

Don John might be there seen, armed cap-a-pie, standing on the prow of the Real, anxiously awaiting the coming conflict.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 1, Issue 2, December, 1857|Various

British Dictionary definitions for cap-a-pie

cap-a-pie

/ (ˌkæpəˈpiː) /

adverb

(dressed, armed, etc) from head to foot

Word Origin for cap-a-pie

C16: from Old French

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