1. Word finder
  2. Word definitions
  3. caper

Find the word definition

What is "caper"

Crossword clues for caper

caper
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
caper
I.verb
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ The dancers capered across the stage.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ But there he was, capering beside the ruin.
▪ It was up in an instant and capering after its prey like an aquatic grasshopper.
▪ The clown was capering under the lamp, waving his fists exultantly above his head.
II.noun
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Stealing an inflatable King Kong may have been a student caper.
▪ This buddy/action caper will be released in December.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ A final garnish of capers adds a pleasant salty note.
▪ A practical nurse brought old red wine, a silver tray of smoked salmon, crumbled hard-boiled egg, capers and lemon.
▪ At midnight, too, some high-spirited folk take part in all sorts of capers.
▪ Even at Sunday River, despite the publicity surrounding the Godson caper, there have been no other such incidents.
▪ In 1977, he pleaded guilty to one caper and was sentenced to jail.
▪ Proof of Life features one of the coolest commando rescue capers in recent cinema.
▪ The capers are usually pickled in a white wine vinegar to preserve them.
▪ This is also sprinkled over the salads, to be followed by capers and some chopped chives or parsley.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Caper

Caper \Ca"per\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Capered p. pr. & vb. n. capering.] [From older capreoll to caper, cf. F. se cabrer to prance; all ultimately fr. L. caper, capra, goat. See Capriole.] To leap or jump about in a sprightly manner; to cut capers; to skip; to spring; to prance; to dance.

He capers, he dances, he has eyes of youth.
--Shak.

Caper

Caper \Ca"per\, n. A frolicsome leap or spring; a skip; a jump, as in mirth or dancing; a prank.

To cut a caper, to frolic; to make a sportive spring; to play a prank.
--Shak.

Caper

Caper \Ca"per\, n. [D. kaper.] A vessel formerly used by the Dutch, privateer.
--Wright.

Caper

Caper \Ca"per\, n. [F. c[^a]pre, fr. L. capparis, Gr. ?; cf. Ar. & Per. al-kabar.]

  1. The pungent grayish green flower bud of the European and Oriental caper ( Capparis spinosa), much used for pickles.

  2. (Bot.) A plant of the genus Capparis; -- called also caper bush, caper tree.

    Note: The Capparis spinosa is a low prickly shrub of the Mediterranean coasts, with trailing branches and brilliant flowers; -- cultivated in the south of Europe for its buds. The Capparis sodada is an almost leafless spiny shrub of central Africa (Soudan), Arabia, and southern India, with edible berries.

    Bean caper. See Bran caper, in the Vocabulary.

    Caper sauce, a kind of sauce or catchup made of capers.

Related phrases:
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
caper

1580s, apparently short for obsolete capriole "to leap, skip," probably from Italian capriolare "jump in the air" (see cab). Related: Capered; capering.

caper

type of prickly Mediterranean bush, also in reference to the plant's edible buds, late 14c., from Latin capparis (source of Italian cappero, French câpre, German Kaper), from Greek kapparis "the caper plant or its fruit," which is of uncertain origin. Arabic kabbar, Persian kabar are from Greek. Perhaps reborrowed into English 16c. The final -s was mistaken for a plural inflection in English and dropped.

caper

by 1590s, "playful leap or jump," from caper (v.); meaning "prank" is from 1840; that of "crime" is from 1926. To cut capers "dance in a frolicsome way" is from c.1600.

Wiktionary
caper

Etymology 1 n. 1 A frolicsome leap or spring; a skip; a jump, as in mirth or dancing; a prank. 2 A crime, especially theft, or a narrative about such a crime. vb. To leap or jump about in a sprightly manner; to cut capers; to skip; to spring; to prance; to dance. Etymology 2

n. A vessel formerly used by the Dutch; privateer. Etymology 3

n. 1 The pungent grayish green flower bud of the European and Oriental caper (''Capparis spinosa''), which is pickled and eaten. 2 A plant of the genus ''Capparis''. Etymology 4

n. (context Scotland English) The capercaillie.

Related phrases:
WordNet
caper

  1. n. any of numerous plants of the genus Capparis

  2. pickled flower buds used as a pungent relish in various dishes and sauces

  3. a crime (especially a robbery); "the gang pulled off a bank job in St. Louis" [syn: job]

  4. a ludicrous or grotesque act done for fun and amusement [syn: antic, joke, prank, trick, put-on]

  5. a playful leap or hop [syn: capriole]

  6. gay or light-hearted recreational activity for diversion or amusement; "it was all done in play"; "their frolic in the surf threatened to become ugly" [syn: play, frolic, romp, gambol]

caper

v. jump about playfully

Related phrases:
Wikipedia
Caper (disambiguation)

The caper is a perennial spiny shrub that bears rounded, fleshy leaves and big white to pinkish-white flowers, best known for the edible flower buds (capers).

Caper or Capers may also refer to:

Caper

Capparis spinosa, the caper bush, also called Flinders rose, is a perennial plant that bears rounded, fleshy leaves and large white to pinkish-white flowers.

The plant is best known for the edible flower buds (capers), often used as a seasoning, and the fruit (caper berries), both of which are usually consumed pickled. Other species of Capparis are also picked along with C. spinosa for their buds or fruits. Other parts of Capparis plants are used in the manufacture of medicines and cosmetics.

Capparis spinosa is found in the wild in the Mediterranean, East Africa, Madagascar, South-Western and Central Asia, the Himalayas, the Pacific Islands, Indomalaya, and Australia. It is present in almost all the circum-Mediterranean countries, and is included in the flora of most of them, but whether it is indigenous to this region is uncertain. Although the flora of the Mediterranean region has considerable endemism, the caper bush could have originated in the tropics, and later been naturalized to the Mediterranean basin.

The taxonomic status of the species is controversial and unsettled. Species within the genus Capparis are highly variable, and interspecific hybrids have been common throughout the evolutionary history of the genus. As a result, some authors have considered C. spinosa to be composed of multiple distinct species, others that the taxon is a single species with multiple varieties or subspecies, or that the taxon C. spinosa is a hybrid between C. orientalis and C. sicula.

Usage examples of "caper".

It felt better to wear out my frustrations by the use of my legs, and so I resolved to follow the capering street to the top if need be and see the Vincula and Acies Castle from that height, and then to show my badge of office to the guards at the fortifications there and walk along them to the Capulus and so cross the river by the lowest way.

The Pope would die and the circus would actually begin with the tawdry tinkle of the hurdy-gurdy and monkeys on chains, the trumpet fanfare of a Fellini movie and the clowns and all the freaks and aerialists joining hands, dancing, capering across the screen.

Our patience was rewarded on the fifth night when Capers hooked a small amberjack and brought it on board with a shout.

They dined on slivers of artichoke heart drizzled with a peppery sauce of black olives and capers, followed by slices of chicken that had been marinated in lime, coriander, and juniper.

The colonel had been one of the bathers, and he stood like a circus-driver flicking a wet towel at Crossjay capering.

The King in robes of Golde, caused the yoong Damosell that stood before the Queene, to marche forwarde to the third Checker, direct in the first remooue, whereupon immediately there was seene a battaile and Torney, with so swift and sodaine forces, bending themselues to the grounde as it were lying close vpon their Garde, and presently vpon it capering vp with a turne twise aboue ground, one iust opposite against an other, and vpon their downe come withall a turne vpon the toe thrise about.

The succulent flesh, scented with bergamot, capers and oregano, was the kind of dish whereby gastronomes set their standards.

We ordered beer, a mixed antipasto, spaghetti with capers and olives and garlic, and osso bucco from a lithe, young woman who seemed genuinely happy to serve us.

He had the uncomfortable notion that the city was not quiet and empty at all, but teeming with invisible, capering life.

Melt one-quarter cup of butter, add three slightly rounding tablespoons of flour, stir and cook until browned, add two cups of broth, brown stock of rich gravy melted in hot water, one-half level teaspoon of salt, the same of paprika, a saltspoon of allspice, one tablespoon of vinegar, a few grains of cayenne, and half a tablespoon of capers.

The flute began to gurgle anew, like a drinking spout in spring-time, and away we went, faster and faster each minute, the boys and girls swinging themselves in time to the tune, and capering presently till their tender feet were twinkling over the ground in gay confusion.

With his legs wrapped around the neck of a capering Gabbler, his face slightly blue because of a dwindling oxygen supply in his suit, and a wide grin, Slopes rode up to the ship, followed and surrounded by hundreds of the scaly horrors.

One instant, Joe Cardona was watching Goldy Tancred and Bowser Riggins as the pair were laughing at the capers of a stout, bald-headed politician.

Poole, and then going over on most Wednesdays to see how they were getting on - a practice interrupted only by his horse playing the fool and coming down with him on a slippery piece of road near Gromwell, a foolish caper that resulted in a broken collar-bone and the replacement of the sprightly gelding by the serious-minded grey mare.

The filet of baby dewback with caper sauce and fleik-liver pate was the best Trevagg had ever eaten, and when Nightlity hooned, with modestly downcast eyes, that virgins of her people were only permitted fruits and vegetables, Porcellus outdid himself in the production of four courses of lipana berries and honey, puptons of dried magicots and psibara, a baked felbar with savory cream, and staggeringly good bread pudding for dessert.