The temper and regulation of our own minds.
--Macaulay.
2. A rule or order prescribed for management or government;
prescription; a regulating principle; a governing
direction; precept; law; as, the regulations of a society
or a school.
{Regulation sword}, {cap}, {uniform}, etc. (Mil.), a sword,
cap, uniform, etc., of the kind or quality prescribed by
the official regulations.
Syn: {Law}; rule; method; principle; order; precept. See
{Law}.
2. The top, or uppermost part; the chief.
Thou art the cap of all the fools alive. --Shak.
3. A respectful uncovering of the head.
He that will give a cap and make a leg in thanks.
--Fuller.
4. (Zo["o]l.) The whole top of the head of a bird from the
base of the bill to the nape of the neck.
5. Anything resembling a cap in form, position, or use; as:
(a) (Arch.) The uppermost of any assemblage of parts; as,
the cap of column, door, etc.; a capital, coping,
cornice, lintel, or plate.
(b) Something covering the top or end of a thing for
protection or ornament.
(c) (Naut.) A collar of iron or wood used in joining
spars, as the mast and the topmast, the bowsprit and
the jib boom; also, a covering of tarred canvas at the
end of a rope.
(d) A percussion cap. See under {Percussion}.
(e) (Mech.) The removable cover of a journal box.
(f) (Geom.) A portion of a spherical or other convex
surface.
6. A large size of writing paper; as, flat cap; foolscap;
legal cap.
{Cap of a cannon}, a piece of lead laid over the vent to keep
the priming dry; -- now called an apron.
{Cap in hand}, obsequiously; submissively.
{Cap of liberty}. See {Liberty cap}, under {Liberty}.
{Cap of maintenance}, a cap of state carried before the kings
of England at the coronation. It is also carried before
the mayors of some cities.
{Cap money}, money collected in a cap for the huntsman at the
death of the fox.
{Cap paper}.
(a) A kind of writing paper including flat cap, foolscap,
and legal cap.
(b) A coarse wrapping paper used for making caps to hold
commodities.
{Cap rock} (Mining), The layer of rock next overlying ore,
generally of barren vein material.
{Flat cap}, cap See {Foolscap}.
{Forage cap}, the cloth undress head covering of an officer
of soldier.
{Legal cap}, a kind of folio writing paper, made for the use
of lawyers, in long narrow sheets which have the fold at
the top or ``narrow edge.''
{To set one's cap}, to make a fool of one. (Obs.) --Chaucer.
{To set one's cap for}, to try to win the favor of a man with
a view to marriage. [Colloq.]
The bones next the joint are capped with a smooth
cartilaginous substance. --Derham.
2. To deprive of cap. [Obs.] --Spenser.
3. To complete; to crown; to bring to the highest point or
consummation; as, to cap the climax of absurdity.
4. To salute by removing the cap. [Slang. Eng.]
Tom . . . capped the proctor with the profoundest of
bows. --Thackeray.
5. To match; to mate in contest; to furnish a complement to;
as, to cap text; to cap proverbs. --Shak.
Now I have him under girdle I'll cap verses with him
to the end of the chapter. --Dryden.
Note: In capping verses, when one quotes a verse another must
cap it by quoting one beginning with the last letter of
the first letter, or with the first letter of the last
word, or ending with a rhyming word, or by applying any
other arbitrary rule may be agreed upon.