cape

plural capes

1. geographyA piece or point of land, extending beyond the adjacent coast into a sea or lake; a promontory; a headland.

   Synonyms: chersonese, ness, peninsula, point

plural capes

1. A sleeveless garment or part of a garment, hanging from the neck over the back, arms, and shoulders.

   Mind you, clothes were clothes in those days. […] Frills, ruffles, flounces, lace, complicated seams and gores: not only did they sweep the ground and have to be held up in one hand elegantly as you walked along, but they had little capes or coats or feather boas.

   1977, Agatha Christie, chapter 4, in An Autobiography, part II, London: Collins, →ISBN

2. slangA superhero.

   Rows and rows of booths and pavilions stretch across the floor, draped with glowing holograms and shifting signs beckoning capes to try their wares. Bystander insurance. Hypertech components. Mystical ingredients. Training DVDs ...

   2017, April Daniels, Dreadnought: Nemesis - Book One, Diversion Books, →ISBN

present singular third person capes · participle present caping · participle past caped · past caped

1. To incite or attract (a bull) to charge a certain direction, by waving a cape.

   “I became a novillero when I was fourteen, but I had already been going to the fields and caping bulls since I was about twelve."

   2013, Odie Hawkins, The Black Matador, "Sugar", AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 140

2. nauticalTo head or point; to keep a course.

   The ship capes southwest by south.

3. To skin (an animal, or particularly the head and shoulders of an animal, especially a deer), for taxidermy.

   Caping[:] Hunters often have a head mount made from large or otherwise special trophies. Head mounts include the neck or neck and shoulders, called the cape. Caping, or skinning the head / shoulders, must be done carefully to keep [everything intact].

   1991, Mike Strandlund et al., Whitetail Deer Hunting, page 231

4. USslangTo defend or praise, especially that which is unworthy.

   "I can't believe I'm out here caping for a politician."

   2017, Mindy Isser [organizer], quoted by Aubrey Whelan [journalist] in "For Philly's socialists, election wins signal momentum", The Philadelphia Inquirer, 15 November 2017

   3 more examples

   A lot of African-Americans believe the answer is Clinton, mostly because "she's not Trump" and because President Barack Obama is shamelessly caping for her.

   2016, Ken Makin, “Clinton-Trump debacle underscores gross misunderstanding of politics”, in Urban Pro Weekly, 6 October - 12 October 2016, page 5

   Many times, you see white supremacist groups caping for women to mask their agenda of white nationalism.

   2017, Laila Nur, quoted in Jordan Green, "Far-right groups converge behind anti-sharia message in Raleigh", Triad City Beat, 14 June - 20 June 2017, page 9

   […] Biden is the old man who once caped for systematic racism; […]

   2019 April 3, Julian Lutz, “Elizabeth Warren has authenticity”, in The Hawk, Saint Joseph's University, page 8

5. transitiveTo cover (as) with or like a cape.

   The white fur that caped his neck and shoulders stood on end.

   1988, Susan Lowell, Ganado Red: A Novella and Stories, Milkweed Editions, →ISBN, page 86

   3 more examples

   He shook her gently, combing his fingers through her coppery curls that caped her shoulders like filigree.

   1991, Terri Valentine, Outlaw’s Kiss, Zebra Books, →ISBN, page 329

   He caped the children and draped them in long wraps, wigs, and swords, and then they all went off down the hall, around the house, and into the yard, Jack singing in his high little voice, “Let’s go off adventuring, adventuring, adventuring!”

   1995, Jim Schutze, By Two and Two: The Scandalous Story of Twin Sisters Accused of a Shocking Crime of Passion, New York, N.Y.: William Morrow and Company, Inc., →ISBN, page 62

   Out of the corner of his eye, he saw blatant relief sketched on her face as the jacket caped her body.

   2014, Kate Meader, Hot and Bothered, Forever, Grand Central Publishing, →ISBN

plural Capes

1. countableA surname.

1. AfricaSouthernabbreviationellipsisEllipsis of Cape of Good Hope.
2. South AfricaabbreviationellipsisEllipsis of Cape Province: a former province of South Africa, split into three in 1994.

   This is my maat Marius; he just moved to Joburg from the Cape.

3. abbreviationellipsisEllipsis of Cape Cod.
4. AfricaSouthernabbreviationellipsishistoricalEllipsis of Cape Colony.
5. abbreviationellipsisspace flightEllipsis of Cape Canaveral: a peninsula in Florida, United States, where the major U.S. spaceflight complex is located.

1. abbreviationacronymuncountableclimatologyAcronym of convective available potential energy.
2. abbreviationacronymuncountablebusinessAcronym of cyclically adjusted price-to-earnings ratio.

   Take the economist Robert Shiller’s CAPE ratio, which measures the valuation of the S&P 500 over long periods. Professor Shiller, a Nobel laureate, designed it as an inflation-adjusted yardstick for comparing stock prices with the average of the last 10 years of corporate earnings.

   2026 June 13, Jeff Sommer, “Mega I.P.O. Frenzy Could Be a Harbinger of a Stock Bubble”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

1. abbreviationacronymAcronym of Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries.