skullcap

[ skuhl-kap ]

See synonyms for skullcap on Thesaurus.com

noun

a small, brimless close-fitting cap, often made of silk or velvet, worn on the crown of the head, as for religious functions.
the domelike roof of the skull.

Botany. any of various plants belonging to the genus Scutellaria, of the mint family, having a calyx resembling a helmet.

Origin of skullcap

First recorded in 1675–85; skull + cap¹

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

How to use skullcap in a sentence

One hat in the Press Room is designed from black velvet with a violin perched on top of a skull cap.
Anna Piaggi's 'Hat-ology' Exhibition Opens in Milan | Liza Foreman | September 23, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
The Nubian wore black tights and shirt, black slippers and a white skull cap and breech-clout.
Fifty Contemporary One-Act Plays | Various
The Maker of Sounds was garbed in an all-enveloping white burnous and a white skull cap.
Fifty Contemporary One-Act Plays | Various
A small boy, dressed in what appears to be a striped flannel night-shirt, with a tiny skull-cap on his head, is driving them.
Round the Wonderful World | G. E. Mitton
I want to see you sometime as a little Egyptian with a skull-cap and a garment like a flannel night-shirt!
Round the Wonderful World | G. E. Mitton

The ghastly little skull-cap showed forth its wanness rigidly.
Rhoda Fleming, Complete | George Meredith

British Dictionary definitions for skullcap

skullcap

/ (ˈskʌlˌkæp) /

noun

a rounded brimless hat fitting the crown of the head
the nontechnical name for calvaria

any of various perennial plants of the genus Scutellaria, esp S. galericulata, that typically have helmet-shaped flowers: family Lamiaceae (labiates)

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

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