Cap (?), n. [OE. cappe, AS. caeppe, cap, cape, hood, fr. LL, cappa, capa; perhaps of Iberian origin, as Isidorus of Seville mentions it first: "Capa, quia quasi totum capiat hominem; it. capitis ornamentum." See 3d Cape, and cf. 1st Cope.]
1.
A covering for the head; esp. (a)
One usually with a visor but without a brim, for men and boys;
(b)
One of lace, muslin, etc., for women, or infants;
(c)
One used as the mark or ensign of some rank, office, or dignity, as that of a cardinal.
2.
The top, or uppermost part; the chief.
Thou art the cap of all the fools alive.
Shak.
3.
A respectful uncovering of the head.
He that will give a cap and make a leg in thanks.
Fuller.
4. Zool.
The whole top of the head of a bird from the base of the bill to the nape of the neck.
5.
Anything resembling a cap in form, position, or use
; as: (a)
Arch.
The uppermost of any assemblage of parts; as, the cap of column, door, etc.; a capital, coping, cornice, lintel, or plate.
(b)
Something covering the top or end of a thing for protection or ornament.
(c)
Naut.
A collar of iron or wood used in joining spars, as the mast and the topmast, the bowsprit and the jib boom; also, a covering of tarred canvas at the end of a rope.
(d)
A percussion cap. See under Percussion.
(e)
Mech. The removable cover of a journal box.
(f)
Geom.
A portion of a spherical or other convex surface.
6.
A large size of writing paper; as, flat cap; foolscap; legal cap.
Cap of a cannon, a piece of lead laid over the vent to keep the priming dry; -- now called an apron. -- Cap in hand, obsequiously; submissively. -- Cap of liberty. See Liberty cap, under Liberty. -- Cap of maintenance, a cap of state carried before the kings of England at the coronation. It is also carried before the mayors of some cities. -- Cap money, money collected in a cap for the huntsman at the death of the fox. -- Cap paper. (a) A kind of writing paper including flat cap, foolsap, and legal cap. (b) A coarse wrapping paper used for making caps to hold commodities. Cap rock Mining, The layer of rock next overlying ore, generally of barren vein material. -- Flat cap, cap See Foolscap. -- Forage cap, the cloth undress head covering of an officer of soldier. -- Legal cap, a kind of folio writing paper, made for the use of lawyers, in long narrow sheets which have the fold at the top or "narrow edge." -- To set one's cap, to make a fool of one. (Obs.) Chaucer. -- To set one's cap for, to try to win the favor of a man with a view to marriage. [Colloq.]
© Webster 1913.
Cap (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Capped (); p. pr. & vb. n. Capping.]
1. To cover with a cap, or as with a cap; to provide with a cap or cover; to cover the top or end of; to place a cap upon the proper part of; as, to cap a post; to cap a gun.
The bones next the joint are capped with a smooth cartilaginous substance.
Derham.
2.
To deprive of cap.
[Obs.]
Spenser.
3.
To complete; to crown; to bring to the highest point or consummation; as, to cap the climax of absurdity.
4.
To salute by removing the cap.
[Slang. Eng.]
Tom . . . capped the proctor with the profoundest of bows.
Thackeray.
5.
To match; to mate in contest; to furnish a complement to; as, to cap text; to cap proverbs.
Shak.
Now I have him under girdle I'll cap verses with him to the end of the chapter.
Dryden.
In capping verses, when one quotes a verse another must cap it by quoting one beginning with the last letter of the first letter, or with the first letter of the last word, or ending with a rhyming word, or by applying any other arbitrary rule may be agreed upon.
© Webster 1913.
Cap, v. i.
To uncover the head respectfully.
Shak.
© Webster 1913.