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thinking cap

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noun

a state of mind marked by reflection or concentration: If we put on our thinking caps, we may come up with the answer.

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RELATED WORDS

cerebration, headwork

Origin of thinking cap

First recorded in 1870–75
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for thinking cap

Historical Examples of thinking cap

  • Now here's my idea that I evolved with my thinking-cap—I mean night-cap—on!

    Glory and the Other Girl

    Annie Hamilton Donnell

  • "And this head of mine would have to put on its thinking-cap," he pursued jovially.

    The Leavenworth Case

    Anna Katherine Green

  • We are a little too inclined to doff the thinking-cap at the first opportunity.

  • But I had my New England "thinking-cap" firmly set on my shoulders.

    Geraldine Farrar

    Geraldine Farrar

  • Tell me what you know and then my 'thinking-cap' may be put on to some advantage.

    Kitty's Conquest

    Charles King

Idioms and Phrases with thinking cap

thinking cap

see put on one's thinking cap.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.