cap

KAP/kæp/

Pluralcaps

Verbcaps, capping, capped

40 meanings of cap

Practice

1
hatnouncountable
A kind of hat, especially a soft close-fitting one with a peak at the front, including special ones worn to show a role or rank, such as a nurse's cap or a graduate's square cap.
The sailor wore a knitted cap against the cold wind.
Every player received an official team cap after the tournament.
Similarhat
Note
Many later meanings, such as a bottle's cap, a mountain's cap or a cap on spending, keep its idea of something sitting on top.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
The container-cover sense developed within the inherited word, already appearing in Middle English. en.wiktionary.org
The mountain-top and upper-limit senses belong to the same inherited word and retain the top or upper-bound idea. en.wiktionary.org
2
upper limitnouncountable
An artificial upper limit placed on an amount or quantity.
Congress debated whether to raise the federal borrowing cap.
The salary cap prevents teams from spending without limit.
UsageOften put a cap on or impose a cap on something; compounds such as salary cap, price cap.
Similarlimit, ceiling
Oppositefloor
Note
The limit-setting noun of politics and payroll: salary cap, price cap, borrowing cap. Its opposite is floor, the lower limit, so a price can be held between a floor and a cap.
3
nouncountable
A covering placed over the top or end of an object, for protection or decoration.
A decorative cap crowned each post of the staircase railing.
Rubber caps on the chair legs kept them from scratching the floor.
Similarcover, covering, tip
4
finish wellverbfigurativelytransitive
To bring something to a close with a final event, often one that makes it more impressive, though sometimes a last blow.
She capped a brilliant season with a record-breaking win.
A surprise guest helped cap the celebration perfectly.
UsageOften cap something with a final event; to cap it all adds the last of several things, good or bad.
Similarcrown, top, complete
Note
Here the cap is the last thing set on top, and it need not be a happy one. "That really capped my day" can be delighted or rueful, and news writing uses the verb neutrally: an executive's exit caps a tumultuous period. The core idea is closing something off.
5
set a limitverbtransitive
To set a maximum limit on an amount, or to reach that limit.
Lawmakers voted to cap interest rates at fifteen percent.
Organizers capped attendance at five hundred people.
UsageUsually cap something at a figure: attendance capped at five hundred.
Similarlimit, restrict, curb
Oppositeuncap
6
verbtransitive
To cover the top or end of something, or to sit on top of it, as a lid, dome or layer does.
Workers capped the oil well to stop the leak.
Remember to cap the glue tightly after each use, or it will harden inside the tube.
Similarcover, seal, top, close
Oppositeuncap, open, uncover
7
team appearancenouncountable
An official appearance for a national team, each one counted toward a player's record.
The striker won his fiftieth cap in the qualifier against Brazil.
Injuries kept her from adding more caps to her tally.
UsagePlayers win or earn caps: his fiftieth cap.
Similarappearance
Note
A sporting honor that is counted like a tally: players win caps, and a first cap or a fiftieth marks a career. Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World (1912) already has Malone tipped to get his Rugby cap for Ireland. The word goes back to the actual caps once given to players, the honor still named by the verb of awarding.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
Arthur Conan Doyle wrote The Lost World. en.wikisource.org
The Lost World was first published in 1912. en.wikipedia.org
The sporting term derives from actual caps awarded to players. en.wikipedia.org
The verb cap can mean awarding a cap as an honor. en.wiktionary.org
8
company valuenouncountable or uncountable
In finance, short for capitalization: the capital a company has raised or is worth, whether counted from its shares and loans or valued at its share price.
Analysts grouped the stocks by market cap into large and small tiers.
Before the funding round closed, the lawyers updated the cap table to show each investor's stake.
UsageRarely alone: market cap; before a noun, hyphenated: small-cap stocks.
Similarcapitalization, valuation
Note
One of several clippings that only look like the hat word: here it is short for capitalization. Founders keep a cap table of who owns which shares.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
Financial cap is a clipping of capitalization, one of several shortened words spelled cap. en.wiktionary.org
9
mushroom topnouncountable
The top, often umbrella-shaped part of a mushroom, sitting above the stem.
Rain had darkened the cap of every mushroom in the field.
He identified the species by the scales on its cap.
10
capital letternouncolloquialcountable
A capital letter, the larger form used to begin sentences and proper names.
Begin each proper noun with a cap.
The sign was printed entirely in caps to grab attention.
UsageUsually plural: in caps, all caps.
Similarcapital, uppercase
Oppositelowercase
11
pick for teamverbtransitive
To choose a player for a national or representative team, or to award someone a cap as a mark of honor.
After three strong seasons with his club, the winger was finally capped by his country in a friendly match.
The selectors are reluctant to cap players who haven't proved themselves at club level.
UsageOften passive, with for: was capped twenty times for Wales.
Similarselect, pick, choose
Note
In cricket a county can also cap a player, awarding a county cap to mark an established regular rather than a single appearance. Across sport the same verb names selection for a national team, as in she was capped twenty times for Wales.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
Cricket counties award county caps to recognize established regular players, rather than automatically for a single appearance. en.wikipedia.org

Less common meanings

12
a lienounslanguncountable
A lie or exaggeration; a false or boastful claim.
His claim that he'd run a marathon was total cap.
When he claimed he had read the whole book in one night, his friends laughed and called it cap.
UsageMostly in that's cap (it's a lie) and no cap (honestly).
Similarnonsense, lies, baloney
Note
Slang that began in African American Vernacular English, where a cap is a lie or a brag.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
The slang sense of cap meaning a lie or exaggeration originated in African American Vernacular English. en.wiktionary.org
13
tell liesverbslangintransitive
To lie; to make a false or exaggerated claim.
I would never cap about something this serious.
She swore she wasn't capping about the whole thing.
UsageTakes no person as object: you cap, or cap about something.
Similarlie, fib, exaggerate
Note
The verb that goes with the slang noun for a lie. It comes from African American Vernacular English and spread widely online among younger speakers. Its best-known offshoot is no cap, said after a statement to insist it is true, a phrase that Future and Young Thug's 2017 track "No Cap" helped popularize.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
The verb meaning to lie originated in African American Vernacular English. en.wiktionary.org
Future and Young Thug's track "No Cap" dates to 2017 and helped popularize the phrase. en.wiktionary.org
14
tooth covernouncountable
A crown-like cover fitted over a damaged or decayed tooth to restore it.
After the root canal, she needed a cap on the molar.
The old cap came loose while he was eating.
Similarcrown
15
blasting devicenouncountable
A detonator, a small explosive device whose blast sets off a larger main charge.
The demolition crew wired a cap to the main charge before retreating.
Each cap must be handled with extreme care to avoid accidental detonation.
Similardetonator
16
toy explosivenouncountable
A small amount of percussive explosive held in a paper strip or plastic cup, made to pop in a toy gun.
He fed a fresh strip of caps into the toy revolver.
Each cap gave off a puff of smoke and a sharp crack.
Note
A toy-box word for the smallest of explosives. Caps come in paper strips or little plastic cups, and children fire them for the bang and the smoke rather than for any projectile, sometimes a whole morning's worth at a time. Keep it apart from the detonator, which is also a small charge but exists to set off a far bigger one.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts
Toy caps contain small amounts of explosive material ignited by impact. cpsc.gov
Caps are available in paper strips. thoroldmuseum.ca
Caps can consist of small plastic cups holding explosive charges. patents.google.com
Ordinary cap guns use caps to simulate gunfire with noise and smoke. app.pch.gc.ca
A detonator is a small explosive charge used to initiate a larger charge. en.wikipedia.org
17
change to capitalsverbcolloquialtransitive
To convert text into uppercase, making the letters capitals.
The editor asked me to cap the headline for emphasis.
He capped the entire paragraph by accident.
Similarcapitalize
18
outdoverbtransitive
To exceed or outdo something, going one better than what came before.
Each speaker tried to cap the last with a funnier anecdote.
Whenever someone told a wild fishing story, Grandpa would lean back and cap it with an even wilder one.
Similartop, outdo, beat, surpass, trump
19
take a screenshotverbtransitive
To grab a still image of a screen, or to make a recording of video footage.
Remember to cap the final score before the page refreshes.
He capped the whole match and uploaded it later.
Similarscreenshot, capture, record
Note
Online shorthand from the days of recording off a television screen or tape: people capped shows and posted the results. It usually takes an object (someone capped it), but it also runs without one, as in "I've capped in VCD format" or "capping from video tapes," where the process matters more than the clip. The result is the noun for a recording.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
Early online users discussed recording programmes and posting the recordings. en.wiktionary.org
The exact wording “I've capped in VCD format” is attested. en.wiktionary.org
The exact wording “capping from video tapes” is attested. en.wiktionary.org
20
a screenshotnouncolloquialabbreviationclipping
Short for capture. A screenshot or a short recording of video footage.
She shared a cap of the winning play.
Did you get a cap of the chat before it was deleted?
UsageUsually a cap of something: a cap of the chat.
Note
A clipping drawn from capture in its recording sense, the storage of something for later playback, and not from capture as seizure. Usenet fan groups were already trading caps in the late 1990s, and the matching verb was in use by 2000.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
Cap is a clipping of capture in its recording sense, rather than its seizure sense. en.wiktionary.org
Capture has a sense meaning storage for later playback. en.wiktionary.org
Usenet fan groups were sharing caps in the late 1990s; Wiktionary documents an April 1998 example in alt.fan.jen-aniston. en.wiktionary.org
The corresponding verb was in use by 2000; Wiktionary quotes a Usenet post dated 4 March 2000. en.wiktionary.org
21
gun downverbslangtransitive
To wound or kill a person by shooting them with a firearm.
He swore he'd cap the next person who disrespected him.
Witnesses said the rival capped him outside the club.
Similarshoot, plug, waste
Note
The verb partner of the slang bullet: to cap someone is to shoot them. The longer "pop a cap in someone's ass" says the same thing with more swagger. It is transitive and blunt, used for threats and for violence described plainly, as in talk of a kid who caps other kids in a school shooting. Outside quoted speech it reads as crude.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
Cap has corresponding slang noun and verb senses meaning bullet and shoot someone. en.wiktionary.org
The expression pop a cap in someone's ass means to shoot someone. en.wiktionary.org
22
gunshotnounslangcountable
A bullet, especially one fired at a person.
He swore he'd put a cap in anyone who snitched.
The threat of catching a cap kept the whole block silent.
UsageOften put a cap in someone or pop a cap in someone.
Similarbullet, slug
Note
Street slang for a bullet, most at home in one idiom: put a cap in someone, often with a cruder word for the target. The phrase is a threat or a report of shooting and is never neutral, so it belongs in dialogue and quoted speech rather than in a writer's own voice. The verb for shooting grew from the same slang.
23
seize (games)verbtransitive
In a game, to win control of an objective, for instance a flag or checkpoint.
Push forward and cap the point while they respawn.
He capped both objectives almost single-handedly.
Similarcapture, take, seize
Note
A gamer's clipping of capture in its other sense, seizure: to cap a flag or a point is to take it and hold it for your team. The Halo 3 Original Soundtrack (2007) has a song that pairs capping flags with setting bombs. Keep it apart from recording the screen, which clips the same word but means saving footage.
24
electronic partnouncountable
An electronic component that stores electrical charge, known in full as a capacitor.
He soldered a new cap across the power rails to reduce noise.
The old caps had leaked and needed replacing.
Similarcapacitor
Note
A workbench clipping of capacitor, used by people who build and repair electronics. It takes the ordinary plural, so replacing the caps in an old device is a familiar repair. "Parasitic caps" are not parts you can solder in at all. The phrase names unwanted capacitance that arises in a circuit and that a designer has to allow for.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
Cap is a clipping of capacitor. en.wiktionary.org
Parasitic caps are unintended capacitances arising within a circuit, rather than discrete components soldered into it. resources.altium.com
Circuit designers must account for parasitic capacitance. analog.com
25
nouncountable
The topmost part or summit of a mountain or similar height.
Similarsummit, peak, top
26
nounobsolete
The highest point or crowning part of something, and so the foremost or best example of a kind.
Thou art the Cap / Of all the Fooles aliue.
c. 1605, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”
27
nounobsolete
An act of taking off one's hat as a show of respect.
He that will give a cap and make a leg, in thanks for a favour he never received, deserveth rather to be blamed for want of wit, than to be praised for store of manners.
1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church History of Britain
28
noun
The upper surface of a bird's head, running from where the beak begins back to the neck.
29
noun
The topmost member of a structure built from several pieces, such as the block crowning a column, pier or post.
30
noun
An iron or wooden collar holding two spars together, such as a mast and its topmast. Also a tarred canvas cover on a rope's end.
31
noun
The part of the outer surface of a sphere or other outward-curving shape cut off by a plane.
32
noun
A big standard sheet size of paper used for writing, as in foolscap and legal sizes.
33
noundialectalAppalachia
Popped corn kernels eaten as a snack.
34
verbobsolete
To lift or remove one's hat as a respectful greeting.
Tom never miſsed a lecture, and capped the proctor with the profoundeſt of bows.
1852, William Makepeace Thackeray, “I Go to Cambridge, and Do But Little Good There”
35
verb
To take away someone's hat or other head covering.
36
nounslang
A capsule containing a drug, especially an illegal one.
37
nouncolloquial
A shortened word for a person who owns capital or supports capitalism.
38
noun
Short for capillary, one of the tiny blood vessels that link arteries to veins.
39
noun
Short for caption, the text that goes with a picture, video or post.
40
nounobsolete
A bowl carved from wood, fitted with a pair of handles, used to drink from.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of cap apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1–7, 9, 11–16, 18, 21–22, 25

It comes from Middle English cappe, from Old English cæppe, ultimately from Late Latin cappa, probably from Latin caput. It is a doublet of cape, chape, and cope.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

Cap derives from Middle English cappe, from Old English cæppe, ultimately from Late Latin cappa. en.wiktionary.org
Latin caput is the probable ultimate source of cappa; this derivation remains disputed. en.wiktionary.org
Cap is a doublet of cape, chape, and cope. en.wiktionary.org

Meanings 8, 10, 17, 19–20, 23–24

A clipping of several longer words that begin with cap-: capitalization in finance, capital letter in writing, capacitor in electronics, and capture for screen recordings and game objectives.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

Cap is a clipping of capitalization in finance. en.wiktionary.org
Cap is a clipping of capital in the sense of a capital letter. en.wiktionary.org
Cap is a clipping of capacitor in electronics. en.wiktionary.org
Cap is a clipping of capture for recordings. en.wiktionary.org
Cap also means capture in relation to game objectives. en.wiktionary.org