Meanings
present singular third person sets one's cap at · participle present setting one's cap at · alternative set one's cap for
- idiomaticTo choose a man as a potential husband (for a girl).
To hear her rant, one would have supposed, who had not seen him, that her lank-haired, grimly partner, was the prettiest youth in the county of Dublin, and that all the comely lasses in Chapelizod and the country round were sighing and setting caps at him […]
1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard - broadlyidiomaticTo choose something as a goal.
Patrick O'Brian, "HMS Surprise". How he has escaped marriage until now I cannot tell: the number of caps set in his direction would furnish a warehouse.
Origin
- Frenchmettre le cap sur“to set a course for”
- Englishset one's cap at
Probably a calque of French mettre le cap sur (“to set a course for”).
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Polish wybierać kandydata na męża, wybrać kandydata na męża
- wybierać kandydata na mężato choose a man as a potential husband for a girl
- wybrać kandydata na mężato choose a man as a potential husband for a girl
- obierać za celto choose something as a goal
- obrać za celto choose something as a goal
Russian положить глаз pf на кого-либо, положить глаз pf на кого-либо
- положить глаз pf на кого-либо (položitʹ glaz)to choose a man as a potential husband for a girl
- положить глаз pf на кого-либо (položitʹ glaz)to choose something as a goal
- нв что-либоto choose something as a goal
Cite this entry
set one's cap at. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/set%20one's%20cap%20at
“set one's cap at.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/set%20one's%20cap%20at. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “set one's cap at,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/set%20one's%20cap%20at.
Source: set one's cap at on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.