Dictionary entry

Cap (2)

Webster's Dictionary 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. 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.

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.