caper

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“
One highlight of this caper is the ensemble-the three very small "Mexicans" (Cristina Chen, Julia Jacobson, Xenia Nelson), who wear translucent sombreros that cover them down to the shoulders and do their feisty or sneaky steps in perfect unison.

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Definitions (24)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (6)

  1. noun A playful leap or hop.
  2. noun A frivolous escapade or prank.
  3. noun Slang An illegal plot or enterprise, especially one involving theft.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (7)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (4)

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Examples (50)

  • We're supposed to be the guards on this caper, and it wouldn't do to have anyone get busted for the exact same thing we're policing the casino for. —  Phule's Paradise by Robert Asprin
  • So if you get rapped for a caper, that means we are going to get roped in it, too. —  131 - According to the Plan of a One-eyed Mystic
  • That was our least successful caper, and for all purposes, our last. —  F ;SF; - vol 098 issue 06 - June 2000
  • "Called me here to this lousy town for a caper, come up with a heist out of the comic books, and then hijack me That's right." —  Lemons Never Lie by Richard Stark
  • For those not quite sure what the whole Knighthood and Order caper is all about, suffice to say it means "They done good, Guv'nor" and yes, Hoy will have to go down on one knee and be dubbed with a sword at Buckingham Palace on date to be fixed. —  PezCyclingNews.com
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

parsley ·  clove ·  paprika ·  basil ·  allspice ·  catsup ·  garlic ·  pepper ·  mustard ·  anchovy ·  cornstarch ·  vinegar

Used in the same contextWord Family

caper:   capers ·  capering
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (6)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. Alteration of capriole.
  2. Middle English caperis, capar, from Latin capparis, from Greek kapparis.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (4)

  1. Short for equivalent capriole, formerly spelled capreall, from Italian capriolare, caper, leap about as a goat or kid (capriola, later F. capriole, now cabriole, a caper, a capriole), from capriolo, a kid (as diminutive of caprio, a roebuck, a wild goat), from Latin capreolus, a kind of wild goat, diminutive of (Middle Latin) capreus, in feminine form caprea, a wild goat, properly adjective, from caper, masculine (Middle Latin also cabro(n-)), a he-goat, capra, feminine, a she-goat (later Italian capro, masculine, capra, feminine, = Spanish cabron, masculine, cabra, feminine, = Portuguese cabro, masculine, cabra, feminine, = Provencal cabra, feminine, = French cabri (from Middle Latin capritus), masculine, Old French chevre, chievre, French chèvre, feminine, later ult. English cheveril, chevrette, chevron, etc.). Cf. Greek κάπρος, a boar; Anglo-Saxon hæfer = Icelandic hafr, a buck, a he-goat. See capret, capriole.
  2. from caper, v.
  3. Of the product, usually in plural capers; Middle English caperis, cappares, capperis, after L.; from French capre, cappre, now câpre = Italian cappero (= Spanish Portuguese with Arabic article alcaparra) = Dutch kapper = German kaper = Danish kapers = Swedish kapris, from Latin capparis, from Greek κάππαρις, the caper-plant, a caper, from Arabic kabbār, qabbār = Persian kabar, capers.
  4. = German kaper = French capre, from Dutch kaper (= Danish kaper = Swedish kapare), a privateer, from kapen = Swedish kapa (cf. German kapern = Danish kapre, from the noun), take, seize, make a prize of at sea: see cap.
 

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/ˈkeɪpər/
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