nightcap
Americannoun
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Informal. an alcoholic drink taken at bedtime or at the end of a festive evening.
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a cap for the head, intended primarily to be worn in bed.
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Sports Informal. the last event of the program for the day, especially the second game of a doubleheader in baseball or the last race of the day in horse racing.
noun
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a bedtime drink, esp an alcoholic or hot one
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a soft cap formerly worn in bed
Other Word Forms
- nightcapped adjective
Etymology
Origin of nightcap
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at night, cap 1
Vocabulary lists containing nightcap
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.
That gin martini nightcap at the luxe Savoy hotel looks less appealing at $38 rather than £28.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 2026
Yoga as a nightcap I like to do a little yoga before bed.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 12, 2025
The nightcap was a Black Sabbath reunion featuring guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward.
From Salon • Jul. 26, 2025
A younger married pair named Nick and Honey come over for the world’s longest and most hellacious nightcap.
From New York Times • Feb. 11, 2024
I think it is the only self-indulgence of his day’s strict routine—Parzival as a nightcap, to clear his mind of the blood that flecks the silver pips on his black collar patches.
From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
