caper — English Dictionary

Noun

1. A playful leap or jump.

2. A jump while dancing.

3. A prank or practical joke.

4. Playful behaviour.

   Usage

   • plural-normally

5. A crime, especially an elaborate heist, or a narrative about such a crime.

   Usage

   • Figurative

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   His caper had failed to find a comic resolution. Instead, there had been a genre switch, and the madcap adventure had turned serious. Or had this bleakness underlain the caper from the start?

   The elusive 87-year-old author’s new book is a noir caper set during the big band era following a detective in search of a cheese heiress[.]

Verb

1. To leap or jump about in a sprightly or playful manner.

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   He capered before them down towards the fortyfoot hole, fluttering his winglike hands, leaping nimbly, Mercury’s hat quivering in the fresh wind that bore back to them his brief birdsweet cries.

2. To jump as part of a dance.

3. To engage in playful behaviour.

4. To run at speed.

   Usage

   • Obsolete

   Examples

   Then up Jack got. And home did trot, As fast as he could caper; Dame Gill did the job, To plaster his nob, With vinegar and brown paper.

   More examples (1)

   So, off we go, ever and anon capering along the streets at a speed which seems rather superfluous in those who have the whole day at their commandment, as Falstaff says.

Noun

1. The pungent grayish green flower bud of the European and Oriental caper (Capparis spinosa), which is pickled and eaten.

   Synonyms

   caperberry

2. A plant of the genus Capparis.

   Synonyms

   caper bushcaper treecaperberry

Noun

1. A vessel formerly used by the Dutch; privateer.

Noun

1. The capercaillie.

   Usage

   • Scotland

   Related words

   north-caper

Noun

1. any of numerous plants of the genus Capparis

   Broader terms

   shrubbush

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

   Broader terms

   pickle

3. a crime (especially a robbery)

   Synonyms

   job

   Broader terms

   robbery

   Examples

   the gang pulled off a bank job in St. Louis

4. a playful leap or hop

   Synonyms

   capriole

   Broader terms

   leapleapingspringsaltationboundbounce

5. gay or light-hearted recreational activity for diversion or amusement

   Synonyms

   playfrolicrompgambol

   Broader terms

   diversionrecreation

   Examples

   it was all done in play

   their frolic in the surf threatened to become ugly

6. a ludicrous or grotesque act done for fun and amusement

   Synonyms

   anticjokepranktrickput-on

   Broader terms

   diversionrecreation

Verb

1. jump about playfully

   Broader terms

   jumpleapboundspring