CAPER • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Caper

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/kˈeɪpər/ Listen

noun

Caper 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.

Caper n. A vessel formerly used by the Dutch, privateer.

Caper n.

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

(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.

verb

Caper v. i. (past & past part. capered; pres. part. capering) 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."

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Etymology of 'Caper'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Caper" Quotes from Famous Books

... as an accomplishment to be learned from books, a prim system of genteel manners to be put on when occasion demands, a sort of superficial education in the correct thing, or, as the boys would say, "the proper caper." In this, however, he is mistaken. Language which expresses the thought with strict logical accuracy is correct language, and language which is sufficiently rich in its resources to express thought fully, in all its lights and bearings, ...

— The Art Of Writing & Speaking The English Language - Word-Study and Composition & Rhetoric • Sherwin Cody

... tugs let off whistles of astonishment, and continued on their paths. A man dozing on a dock aroused and began to caper. ...

— Men, Women, and Boats • Stephen Crane

... noise of the trampling feet, opened the window and looked out upon the fantastic procession. No doubt some news of what had happened had reached him, for he is reported to have called out: "Well, boys, you have had a fine night for your Indian caper. But mind, you've got to pay the fiddler yet." One of the Mohawk leaders looked up and answered promptly: "Oh, never mind, squire. Just come out here, if you please, and we'll settle the bill in two minutes." The admiral considered the odds were against ...

— A History of the Four Georges and of William IV, Volume III (of 4) • Justin McCarthy and Justin Huntly McCarthy

... with the frankness of his friend: "Let me never thrive," said he, "if I am not ready to caper out of my skin, to see you in so good a humours; therefore what I say shall be all mirth; tho' I am afraid those grave fopps may laugh: but let them look to 't, I'll go on nevertheless; for what am I the worse for any one swearing? I had rather they ...

— The Satyricon • Petronius Arbiter

... he said. "Nobody has ridden him but you. I broke him myself. I knew him from the time he was born. I knew every bit of him, every trick, every caper, and I would have staked my life that it was impossible for him to do a thing like this. There was no warning, no fighting for the bit, no previous unruliness. I have been thinking it over. He didn't fight for the bit, for that matter. ...

— Moon-Face and Other Stories • Jack London

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