garrison cap
- noun
- /ˈɡɛrɪsən kæp/
- US
- She found an old photograph of her grandfather in uniform, wearing a garrison cap during World War II.
Examples
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At the parade, many veterans proudly wore their garrison caps as a symbol of their service.
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Something falls from the envelope: sepia-toned pictures with tiny soldier boys beneath garrison caps and steel helmets, all much too large for them.
Fiction book (1995) -
The soldier adjusted his garrison cap before saluting the commanding officer.
Synonyms
A small pointed hat worn with a military uniform that folds flat
How Formal
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound plainly combines 'garrison' (a military posting) with 'cap' (a head covering), so a B1 learner who knows both words would reasonably infer it denotes a kind of military hat. However, the specific shape and construction (flat, foldable, wedge-shaped) are specialized details not fully predictable from the constituents, so the term is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Garrison cap comes from soldiers who lived in a garrison, a 'military base' where they used a small, flat hat. Because the hat folded flat and could be tucked into a pocket or belt, it became the easy, foldable uniform cap we still call a garrison cap today.