cap

I UK [kæp] / US noun [countable]
Word forms "cap":
singular cap plural caps
**

1) a soft hat with a stiff part called a peak that comes out over your eyes

a baseball cap

an elderly man in a peaked cap

a) a soft hat that people wear as part of a uniform

a nurse's/chauffeur's/sailor's cap

a school cap

b) a soft hat that you wear to protect or cover your hair

a swimming/bathing/shower cap

2) a lid or part that fits over the top of something

Meg screwed the cap back on the bottle.

3) a limit on the amount of money that you can spend or charge

Airlines began to impose a $50 cap on commissions for domestic flights.

The government introduced new spending caps for local authorities.

4)

a) literary the top part of a mountain

the hills with their snowy caps

b) the top part of a wave

5) a hard cover fixed to a tooth to protect it or replace part of it

6)

a) British if a football, rugby, or cricket player wins a cap, they play for their country in an international match

win/receive/get a cap:

He won seventeen caps for England in the 1990s.

b) a player who has played for their country's team

Barber is joined in the midfield by the England cap Nick Pickering.

7) cap or Dutch cap

British a rubber object that a woman puts inside her vagina so that she can have sex without getting pregnant

8) a small amount of explosive that is used to make a loud noise in a toy gun called a cap gun

•

if the cap fits (wear it) — British

mainly spoken used for saying that if someone thinks that a general criticism you have made is true about them, they should accept the criticism

"He as good as called me a slob!" "Well, if the cap fits..."

- go cap in hand to someone

See:

thinking cap

II UK [kæp] / US verb [transitive]
Word forms "cap":
present tense I/you/we/they cap he/she/it caps present participle capping past tense capped past participle capped
*

1) to set a limit on the amount of money that someone can spend or charge

The Department of the Environment is capping local authorities' spending.

The interest rate has been capped at 7.5 per cent.

2) British to give a player a place in a country's team for an international match in football, rugby, or cricket

Rix was capped for England 17 times.

He has now become Brazil's most capped goalkeeper.

3)

a) to say or do something that is better, funnier, cleverer etc than something good, funny, clever etc that someone has just said or done

Every time I made a joke, Kim tried to cap it.

b) mainly journalism to be a very good or very important event that happens at the end of a series of events

His victory in the world championship capped a brilliant week's skiing.

The festivities were capped by a presentation to all the committee members.

4) to fix a hard cover to a tooth to protect it or replace part of it

She'd had three of her teeth capped.

5) to put a cover or lid on something

It's a good idea to cap the chimney to prevent dirt from getting in.

•

be capped with/by — literary to have something on top

The mountains were capped with snow.

- to cap it all