caps.

abbreviation for

1. capital letters.
2. (in prescriptions) a capsule.

caps.

abbreviation for

1. capital letters

Word History and Origins

Origin of caps.¹

caps. ( def 2 ) < Latin capsula

Example Sentences

Of those, Toby Roland-Jones won the most caps, with four.

From BBC

Burrow, who was married with three children, retired from playing in 2017 after winning eight Super League Grand Finals and 15 England and five Great Britain caps.

From BBC

The Black Caps are in a mess of their own making.

From BBC

Maher is established in sevens but only has two caps for the USA XVs side from 2021.

From BBC

Williamson shared half-century partnerships with all of Tom Latham, Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell, but the Black Caps were guilty of gifting wickets with loose strokes.

From BBC

Related Words

• beret

More About Caps

What does caps mean?

Caps is an informal, short way of saying capital letters—the bigger, taller versions of letters (like W), as opposed to the smaller versions, which are called lowercase letters (like w).

Capital letters are also called uppercase letters or simply capitals.

A word written entirely in capital letters (like WHAT) is said to be written in caps or all caps. The adjective uppercase can be used to mean the same thing.

To capitalize a word is to put its first letter in caps—to make it a capital letter.

Some acronyms and abbreviations are written using all caps, such as NASA and U.S.

The key on a keyboard that results in all letters being in caps is called caps lock (or sometimes caps for short).

In informal communications like text messages and online posts, caps is often used for emphasis or to convey excitement or to mimic yelling.

Example: My mom keeps sending my texts in ALL CAPS and I can’t tell if she’s mad at me.

Where does caps come from?

The term caps has been used as a shortened form of capital letters since at least the 1800s. The word capital comes from the Latin capitālis, meaning “concerning the head,” or “chief,” from caput, “head.”

It can be confusing to know whether or not to use a capital letter in certain situations, but a capitalization guide can help.

Did you know ... ?

What are some synonyms for caps?

• all caps
• capital letters
• capitals
• uppercase

What are some words that share a root or word element with caps? 

• capital
• capitalize
• capitalization

What are some words that often get used in discussing caps?

• all
• letter
• word
• sentence
• spell
• type
• text
• write
• lock
• key
• title
• lowercase

How is caps used in real life?

Caps is informal. It’s especially used in the phrase all caps. In casual communications, words are sometimes written in caps for emphasis.

Trying out some new fonts, should I use all caps or lowercase? Pictures below! #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame #pixelart pic.twitter.com/IWgU79on65

— Kyle Berger (@IceBERGer3) August 16, 2019

A first for me: I was invited to review my own article submission today. Is it okay to write back in all caps (with no explanation): WOW, SO GOOD, ACCEPT WITH NO CONDITIONS

— Brian Tuohy (@brian_tuohy) February 8, 2021

MY FAVORITE THING ABOUT WORKING IN NEWS IS THE MESSAGES I GET IN ALL CAPS FROM MY COLLEAGUES. IS SOMEONE REALLY EXCITED? OR REALLY ANGRY? IN A RUSH?

— Andrew Smith (@AndrewSmithNews) February 7, 2021

Try using caps!

Which of the following words is spelled in all caps?

A. yelling
B. Yelling
C. YELLING
D. yELliNg