to cap off
- phrasal verb
- Informal
- An exciting week of football upsets in Seattle was capped off by a 21-17 win for Roosevelt, leaving the Issaquah faithful stunned.
- cap off the season
- cap off the evening
- cap off the day
Well, Ross, I'm really excited to, in addition, cap this news off with someone very special to you.
- Well, Ross, I'm really excited to, in addition, cap this news off with someone very special to you.
- And, you know, to cap that story off, what ended up happening was I was the starting third baseman.
- And to cap it all off, because that's not enough, they're sadistic, which means they take positive delight in the suffering of others.
- Once we do shout out, no free shout out, we can answer some fan questions and then we can cap it off with some with some tear talk.
Examples
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Carl Winston capped off the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run, his second touchdown of the game.
Blog text (10) -
Whitlow capped off UK's drive with a 20-yard scamper to pay dirt, giving Kentucky a 14-0 lead.
Blog text (25) -
My runs are mostly capped off at 30 minutes, simply because that seems like a good, round, easy number.
Blog text (19) -
The weekend features parties and tours, capped off with a fancy dance ball inspired by the episode "Shindig."
Blog text (20) -
And Floyd Mayweather Junior has another big, stunning victory to cap off his rise to stardom.
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Alumni Weekend will be capped off at halftime with 17 former Steelers being recognized on-field for a special ceremony.
Blog text (7) -
First came a 93-yard drive that tailback Charles Ross capped off with a two-yard TD run.
Blog text (10) -
After trick-or-treating, 8-year-old Timothy O'Bryan chose a Pixy Stix to cap off his evening.
Blog text (2) -
The team celebrated their championship win, and to cap off the festivities, they threw a big parade.
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She wrote the final chapter of her novel, eager to cap off her years of hard work.
Synonyms
To stop something or make it finish
To finish something or make it whole
Finish an activity or task
To complete an activity or task
To finish something by adding a final detail or touch
Complete the last details to make something ready
Reach the most important final point of an activity or event
Reach a final high point that ends with a specific result
To complete the last part of a task
Add a final thing to make something feel complete
Bring an activity or meeting to an end
End something in a memorable and exciting way
To complete something by adding the final touches
To finish in an exciting and memorable way
To finish something in a very impressive way
Antonyms
How Final
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense ‘to finish or complete’ can be partly inferred from 'cap' (to top or cover) plus the particle 'off' which often signals removal or completion, so a learner could plausibly guess it means to bring something to a close. However, the mapping from 'putting a cap on' to the abstract sense 'finish/close with a notable action' is metaphorical and not fully predictable without prior exposure, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
The verb phrase cap off comes from the image of putting a cap (a lid or the last stone) on top of something to finish it. So, if you 'cap off' a speech or an event by doing something special at the end, it means 'to finish' or complete something with a clear final action.