# cap

Pronunciation: say "KAP" /kæp/

## Noun

1. 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.
   - Simple: A kind of hat, often soft with a stiff front part, or one worn for a job or at graduation.
   - _The sailor wore a knitted cap against the cold wind._
   - _Every player received an official team cap after the tournament._
2. An artificial upper limit placed on an amount or quantity.
   - Simple: A top limit set on how much of something is allowed.
   - _Congress debated whether to raise the federal borrowing cap._
   - _The salary cap prevents teams from spending without limit._
3. A covering placed over the top or end of an object, for protection or decoration.
   - Simple: A cover for the top or end of something, used to protect it or make it look nice.
   - _A decorative cap crowned each post of the staircase railing._
   - _Rubber caps on the chair legs kept them from scratching the floor._
7. An official appearance for a national team, each one counted toward a player's record.
   - Simple: A single appearance playing for a national team, counted as a record of honor.
   - _The striker won his fiftieth cap in the qualifier against Brazil._
   - _Injuries kept her from adding more caps to her tally._
8. 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.
   - Simple: In business, the money a company is worth or has raised from shares and loans.
   - _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._
12. A lie or exaggeration; a false or boastful claim. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A lie, or a boast that is not true.
   - _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._
9. The top, often umbrella-shaped part of a mushroom, sitting above the stem.
   - Simple: The rounded top part of a mushroom, 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. A capital letter, the larger form used to begin sentences and proper names. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A big letter, like the ones used at the start of names.
   - _Begin each proper noun with a cap._
   - _The sign was printed entirely in caps to grab attention._
14. A crown-like cover fitted over a damaged or decayed tooth to restore it.
   - Simple: A hard cover that a dentist puts over a damaged tooth.
   - _After the root canal, she needed a cap on the molar._
   - _The old cap came loose while he was eating._
15. A detonator, a small explosive device whose blast sets off a larger main charge.
   - Simple: A small device that sets off a bigger explosion.
   - _The demolition crew wired a cap to the main charge before retreating._
   - _Each cap must be handled with extreme care to avoid accidental detonation._
16. A small amount of percussive explosive held in a paper strip or plastic cup, made to pop in a toy gun.
   - Simple: A small bit of explosive powder in paper or plastic that pops 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._
20. Short for capture. A screenshot or a short recording of video footage. *(colloquial)* — Clipping of capture; a recording or screenshot.
   - Simple: Short for capture. A saved picture of a screen, or a saved video clip.
   - _She shared a cap of the winning play._
   - _Did you get a cap of the chat before it was deleted?_
22. A bullet, especially one fired at a person. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A bullet fired from a gun at someone.
   - _He swore he'd put a cap in anyone who snitched._
   - _The threat of catching a cap kept the whole block silent._
24. An electronic component that stores electrical charge, known in full as a capacitor.
   - Simple: An electronic part that stores a small amount of electric charge.
   - _He soldered a new cap across the power rails to reduce noise._
   - _The old caps had leaked and needed replacing._
25. The topmost part or summit of a mountain or similar height.
   - Simple: The very top of a mountain or other tall thing.

## Verb

4. To bring something to a close with a final event, often one that makes it more impressive, though sometimes a last blow.
   - Simple: To end something with one last event, often a great one, sometimes a bad one.
   - _She capped a brilliant season with a record-breaking win._
   - _A surprise guest helped cap the celebration perfectly._
5. To set a maximum limit on an amount, or to reach that limit.
   - Simple: To put a top limit on how much something can be or grow.
   - _Lawmakers voted to cap interest rates at fifteen percent._
   - _Organizers capped attendance at five hundred people._
6. To cover the top or end of something, or to sit on top of it, as a lid, dome or layer does.
   - Simple: To put a cover on top of something, or to be on top of it.
   - _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._
13. To lie; to make a false or exaggerated claim. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To tell a lie or say something that is not true.
   - _I would never cap about something this serious._
   - _She swore she wasn't capping about the whole thing._
11. To choose a player for a national or representative team, or to award someone a cap as a mark of honor.
   - Simple: To pick a player for a national team, or give someone a cap as an 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._
17. To convert text into uppercase, making the letters capitals. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To change the letters in a word into big capital letters.
   - _The editor asked me to cap the headline for emphasis._
   - _He capped the entire paragraph by accident._
18. To exceed or outdo something, going one better than what came before.
   - Simple: To do better than someone or something else.
   - _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._
19. To grab a still image of a screen, or to make a recording of video footage.
   - Simple: To take a screenshot or save a copy of a video.
   - _Remember to cap the final score before the page refreshes._
   - _He capped the whole match and uploaded it later._
21. To wound or kill a person by shooting them with a firearm. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To shoot someone with a gun.
   - _He swore he'd cap the next person who disrespected him._
   - _Witnesses said the rival capped him outside the club._
23. In a game, to win control of an objective, for instance a flag or checkpoint.
   - Simple: To take control of a game target, like a flag or a base.
   - _Push forward and cap the point while they respawn._
   - _He capped both objectives almost single-handedly._

## Other meanings

- (noun) The highest point or crowning part of something, and so the foremost or best example of a kind.
- (noun) An act of taking off one's hat as a show of respect.
- (noun) The upper surface of a bird's head, running from where the beak begins back to the neck.
- (noun) The topmost member of a structure built from several pieces, such as the block crowning a column, pier or post.
- (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.
- (noun) The part of the outer surface of a sphere or other outward-curving shape cut off by a plane.
- (noun) A big standard sheet size of paper used for writing, as in foolscap and legal sizes.
- (noun) Popped corn kernels eaten as a snack.
- (verb) To lift or remove one's hat as a respectful greeting.
- (verb) To take away someone's hat or other head covering.
- (noun) A capsule containing a drug, especially an illegal one.
- (noun) A shortened word for a person who owns capital or supports capitalism.
- (noun) Short for capillary, one of the tiny blood vessels that link arteries to veins.
- (noun) Short for caption, the text that goes with a picture, video or post.
- (noun) A bowl carved from wood, fitted with a pair of handles, used to drink from.

## Origin

**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.
**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.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/cap (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).