noun

cap

kap

noun

A soft, close-fitting hat, often with a brim or peak, and no full brim all the way round.

"He pulled his baseball cap low to shade his eyes."

"She wore a wool cap against the winter cold."

A cover or seal that fits over the top or end of something to protect or close it.

"Don't forget to put the cap back on the pen."

"The bottle cap was rusted shut."

An upper limit set on an amount, price, or quantity.

"The city imposed a cap on rent increases."

Informal: an exaggeration or outright lie.

""I ran a marathon in two hours" — that's cap, and you know it."

verb

To put a cover on something, or to set an upper limit on it.

"The company capped bonuses at ten percent of salary."

"She capped the marker so it wouldn't dry out."

Informal: to lie or exaggerate.

"Stop capping — you weren't even there."

How to Use Cap

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishMost often a soft hat, a protective cover, or a maximum limit — plus, in slang, a lie.

Common mistake

The slang sense (lie/exaggeration) is very informal — don't use it in formal writing.

Memory tip

If someone says "no cap," they mean "no lie, I'm serious" — the opposite is "that's cap."

Trace the full origin ↓

Common pairings

baseball cap price cap cap on spending no cap

Word Forms

capped past tense, capped past tense, caps plural, caps plural, caps singular, caps singular

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He pulled his baseball _____ low to shade his eyes.

Etymology

From Old English cæppe ("hood, head-covering"), itself borrowed from Late Latin cappa. The same root eventually gave English "cape," "cope," and "chapel."

Rhymes for cap

recap madcap kneecap handicap nightcap

See all rhymes for cap →