set one's cap at en · VERB
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
Probably a calque of French mettre le cap sur (“to set a course for”).
Meanings
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(idiomatic) To choose a man as a potential husband (for a girl).
To hear her rant, one would have supposed, who had not seen him, that her lank-haired, grimly partner, was the prettiest youth in the county of Dublin, and that all the comely lasses in Chapelizod and the country round were sighing and setting caps at him […]
1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:
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(broadly, idiomatic) To choose something as a goal.
Patrick O'Brian, "HMS Surprise". How he has escaped marriage until now I cannot tell: the number of caps set in his direction would furnish a warehouse.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| set one's cap for | alternative | lexicographic | |
| sets one's cap at | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| setting one's cap at | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| set one's cap at | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| set one's cap at | Tense=Past | lexicographic |
Translations (7)
pl wybierać kandydata na męża (to choose a man as a potential husband for a girl) · ru нв что-либо (to choose something as a goal) · pl obrać za cel (to choose something as a goal) · pl obierać za cel (to choose something as a goal) · ru положить глаз pf на кого-либо (to choose something as a goal) · ru положить глаз pf на кого-либо (to choose a man as a potential husband for a girl) · pl wybrać kandydata na męża (to choose a man as a potential husband for a girl)