thinking cap
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of thinking cap
First recorded in 1870–75
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.
Then put on your short-term thinking cap for a moment.
From MarketWatch • Oct. 11, 2025
It’s the biggest week of the high school football season, so let me peek into my crystal ball, put on my thinking cap and come up with some predictions for the biggest games.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 28, 2021
The story, concocted from clichés that were already droopy when they appeared in almost every other jukebox musical ever written, does not require you to put your thinking cap on.
From New York Times • Mar. 15, 2018
Paisley Rekdal’s collection “Imaginary Vessels” made me put my thinking cap on.
From The New Yorker • Dec. 13, 2016
I had learned a long time ago that when my grandpa had his thinking cap on, the best thing for me to do was to be patient, and above all, not to say anything.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
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.
