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Glite Dictionary
🥃 A bedtime drink 🧢 A bed hat ⚾ A final game
nightcap

nightcap

2 8.3
A soft cloth hat people wear in bed to keep their head warm
  • noun
  • /ˈnaɪtˌkæp/
  • Archaic
translation icon : gorro de dormir
  • As she settled into her bed, she pulled on her soft nightcap to ward off the cold.
  • nightcap and gown
  • wear a nightcap
  • nightcap on her head

So put on your nightcap, Sup your meagre plate of gruel, and allow me to play the Ghost of Christmas.

Examples

  • At last, he belted his robe, put on warm slippers and a nightcap, and tapped at Bubbles' door.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • The only man in the western world to wear a nightcap, he drew his on.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • A window was thrown up, and a gentleman in his nightcap put his head out.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • Wisps of gray hair tumbled out from beneath her nightcap.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • Later, in bed, snuggled down, wearing a nightcap, with his pile of Christmas books beside him, Jack gazes critically around his room.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • He dreaded the mare's nest that would no doubt greet him, but hoped the sight of his nightcap on his head and the bedcovers sealed over him at four o'clock in the afternoon would persuade his family to leave him in peace.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • He wore a cozy nightcap to keep his head warm during the chilly winter nights.

  • A gentleman sat by the fire in his worn nightcap, reading a book before bed.

Synonyms

cap
vsnightcap
175 1.0

A soft hat that fits the head, often with a small brim

is brimless and used in bed for warmth
skullcap
vsnightcap
3 7.6

A small round cap that fits the top of the head and has no brim, often worn for religious reasons

is worn in bed to keep the head warm rather than for ceremonies

How Warm

balaclava
4 7.7
woolen
  • US
9 2.3
nightcap
  • Archaic
2 8.3
beanie
18 3.4
cap
175 1.0

Surface Forms

nightcap singular
nightcaps plural

Morphology

nightcap = night + cap (transparent) = night + cap

Direct compound of 'night' + 'cap' referring to a cap worn at night; meaning follows standard compounding logic.

Etymology

Nightcap comes from the simple parts night and cap and at first meant a soft cloth hat worn in bed to keep the head warm. That's why the cloth item is literally a 'cap' for the night.