whitecap
Americannoun
noun
-
a wave with a white broken crest
-
a member of a vigilante organization that attempts to control a community
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of whitecap
Vocabulary lists containing whitecap
Earth Science - Middle School
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Earth Science - High School
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Oceanography - Middle School
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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.
See Examples For:
I backed up and stumbled as we braced ourselves to meet the wall of water that was now a whitecap above our heads.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 14, 2016
Wave upon wave of oceanic orchestral sounds — swirling strings, arpeggiated harps, droning brass and winds, the whitecap shimmer of multiple harps, bells, marimbas, vibraphones and keyboards — momentously evoked the Pacific.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 17, 2015
With a frothy whitecap rushing down its face, the wave violently jarred the vessel and forced Ryan off balance.
From Time Magazine Archive
Some of the islands are so small that they seem no bigger than a whitecap from a few miles' distance.
From Time Magazine Archive
A whitecap tossed us beyond a cluster of rafts, most of them empty.
From "Salt to the Sea" by Ruta Sepetys
Windy conditions were generating whitecaps on the water, making visibility challenging for rescuers on Tuesday evening, Crispen said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
One evening, ominous, low-lying tube-shaped clouds known as arcus formed, and whitecaps appeared in the waves.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 30, 2025
It’s a little breezy, but besides a few whitecaps, you hardly notice the sailing conditions.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 2, 2023
A strong wind created whitecaps, while waves breaking against rocks occasionally sprayed us.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 7, 2021
The sea breeze bent the pines behind them, blew across their backs, and sped out over the water, tearing the whitecaps back even as they came to shore.
From "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary D. Schmidt
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.
