cap and bells

American

noun

a fool's cap hung with bells.

cap and bells British

noun

the traditional garb of a court jester, including a cap with bells attached to it

"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

Etymology

Origin of cap and bells

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Unfortunately I didn't get much of a chance to talk to master Partridge, his cap and bells.

From The Guardian • Jan. 23, 2013

All that is needed to complete the costume is cap and bells.

From Time Magazine Archive

He has worn. . . the cap and bells of the city jester .

From Time Magazine Archive

The Kinks, shaking their collective cap and bells, drew a bead on the funny bone.

From Time Magazine Archive

In early manuscripts he is always eating with one hand, and striking with the other; in later ones he has a cap and bells, or cap crested with a cock’s head, whence the word “coxcomb.”

From The Stones of Venice, Volume II (of 3), by Ruskin, John

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023