• enPR: kāp, IPA: /keɪp/

cape (plural capes)

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

   Synonyms: chersonese, peninsula, point

• French: cap
• German: Kap
• Italian: capo
• Portuguese: cabo
• Russian: мыс
• Spanish: cabo

cape (plural capes)

1. A sleeveless garment or part of a garment, hanging from the neck over the back, arms, and shoulders.
   • 1977, Agatha Christie, chapter 4, in An Autobiography, part II, London: Collins, →ISBN:

     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.

2. (slang) A superhero.
   • 2017, April Daniels, Dreadnought: Nemesis - Book One, Diversion Books (ISBN 9781682300671):

     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 ...

• French: cape
• German: Cape
• Italian: cappa, mantellina
• Portuguese: capa
• Russian: наки́дка
• Spanish: capa

cape (capes, present participle caping; past and past participle caped)

1. To incite or attract (a bull) to charge a certain direction, by waving a cape.
   • 2013, Odie Hawkins, The Black Matador, "Sugar" (AuthorHouse, ISBN 9781481706629), page 140:

     “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."

2. (nautical) To head or point; to keep a course.

   The ship capes southwest by south.

3. To skin an animal, particularly a deer.
4. (uncommon) To wear a cape.
   • 2017, April Daniels, Dreadnought: Nemesis - Book One (Diversion Books, ISBN 9781682300671):

     Calamity tells me about the adventures she's had caping around the city, and I tell her about how I transitioned. When I tell her about David, and how he suddenly became a jerk overnight, she surprises me by nodding along.

5. (US, slang) To defend or praise, especially that which is unworthy.
   • 2016, Ken Makin, "Clinton-Trump debacle underscores gross misunderstanding of politics", Urban Pro Weekly, 6 October - 12 October 2016, page 5 ↗:

     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.

   • 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 ↗:

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

   • 2019, Julian Lutz, "Elizabeth Warren has authenticity", The Hawk (Saint Joseph's University), 3 April 2019, page 8 ↗:

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

cape (capes, present participle caping; past and past participle caped)

1. (obsolete) To look for, search after.

   Long may they search ere that they find that they after cape. (Geoffrey Chaucer)

2. (rare, dialectal or obsolete) To gaze or stare.

   The captain just caped mindlessly into the distance as his ship was hit by volley after volley.

   This Nicholas ever caped upward into the air. (Geoffrey Chaucer)

1. (with the definite article, South Africa) The Cape of Good Hope or Cape Province, South Africa. Cape Province was split into three in 1994.

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

2. (with the definite article, historical) The Cape Colony.
3. Surname

cape (uncountable)

1. (meteorology) Convective available potential energy