1. [n]  a tight-fitting headdress
2. [n]  a top (as for a bottle)
3. [n]  something serving as a cover or protection
4. [n]  the upper part of a column that supports the entablature
5. [n]  dental appliance consisting of an artificial crown for a tooth
6. [n]  a mechanical or electrical explosive device or a small amount of explosive; can be used to fire an explosive charge
7. [n]  an upper limit on what is allowed; "they established a cap for prices"
8. [n]  a fruiting structure resembling an umbrella that forms the top of a stalked fleshy fungus such as a mushroom
9. [v]  restrict the number or amount of; "We had to cap the number of people we can accept into our club"
10. [v]  lie at the top of; "Snow capped the mountains"

1. \Cap\, n. [OE. cappe, AS. c[ae]ppe, 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. (Zo["o]l.) 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, foolscap,
          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.]
   

2. \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.
   Note: 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.
   

3. \Cap\, v. i.
   To uncover the head respectfully. --Shak.
   

1. Columbia AppleTalk Package.

2. Carrierless Amplitude/Phase Modulation.

3. Competitive Access Provider

1. This Latin term, which is frequently used in medicine, means "let the patient take".
2. A regulatory protein that triggers the transcription of genes that generate the enzymes bacteria need to use nutrients when glucose is absent.