Difference Wiki

Hat vs. Cap

Hats and caps are two types of the headgears which are worn across the globe for the multiple purposes. These headgears are either used as a style statement or to get protected from heat and pollution. Many people often found it difficult to differentiate it between both these types of the headgears. Although, they can be easily distinguished by the brim and the peak. The hat is the crown-shaped headgear with a brim, on the other hand, a cap is a kind of soft, flat hat without a brim and typically with a peak. With these definitions, one thing is clear that cap itself is one of the types of the hat.

Key Differences

Cap itself is a type of the hat, with the only difference of brim and the peak or the visor.
The shape and size of the brim changes in different types of the hat. On the other hand, cap lacks brim and has peak or the visor instead.
Hats are used for the various purposes of a style statement, safety, and as an accessory for the religious ceremonies. Conversely, the caps are mainly used to get protected from the sunlight or to get warmth in the winter season.
The hat is a headgear, which usually has the shape crown and the brim. Contrary to this, a cap is a kind of soft, flat hat without a brim and typically with a peak.
Hats have the shape crown while the crown of the cap fits very close to the head.

Comparison Chart

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The hat is a headgear, which usually has the shape crown and the brim.
A cap is a kind of soft, flat hat without a brim and typically with a peak.
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Shape

Hats have the shaped crown.
The crown of the cap fits very close to the head.

Brim

The shape and size of the brim changes in different types of the hat.
Cap lacks brim and has peak or the visor instead.

Usage

Hats are used for the various purposes of a style statement, safety, and as an accessory for the religious ceremonies.
The caps are mainly used to get protected from the sunlight or to get warmth in the winter season.
Janet White
Jun 15, 2017

Hat and Cap Definitions

Hat

A covering for the head, especially one with a shaped crown and brim.

Cap

A usually soft and close-fitting head covering, either having no brim or with a visor.

Hat

A head covering of distinctive color and shape worn as a symbol of office.
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Cap

A special head covering worn to indicate rank, occupation, or membership in a particular group
A cardinal's cap.
A sailor's cap.

Hat

The office symbolized by the wearing of such a head covering.

Cap

An academic mortarboard. Used especially in the phrase cap and gown.

Hat

A role or office symbolized by or as if by the wearing of different hats
Wears two hats—one as parent and one as corporate executive.

Cap

A protective cover or seal, especially one that closes off an end or a tip
A bottle cap.
A 35-millimeter lens cap.

Hat

To supply or cover with a hat.
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Cap

A crown for covering or sealing a tooth.

Hat

A covering for the head, often in the approximate form of a cone, dome or cylinder closed at its top end, and sometimes having a brim and other decoration.

Cap

A truck cap.

Hat

(figuratively) A particular role or capacity that a person might fill.

Cap

A tread for a worn pneumatic tire.

Hat

(figuratively) Any receptacle from which numbers/names are pulled out in a lottery.

Cap

A fitted covering used to seal a well or large pipe.

Hat

The lottery or draw itself.
We're both in the hat: let's hope we come up against each other.

Cap

Chiefly Southern US See eye.

Hat

(video games) A hat switch.

Cap

A summit or top, as of a mountain.

Hat

The háček symbol.

Cap

An upper limit; a ceiling
Placed a cap on mortgage rates.

Hat

The caret symbol ^.

Cap

(Architecture) The capital of a column.

Hat

(internet slang) User rights on a website, such as the right to edit pages others cannot.

Cap

The top part, or pileus, of a mushroom.

Hat

A student who is also the son of a nobleman (and so allowed to wear a hat instead of a mortarboard).

Cap

A calyptra.

Hat

(transitive) To place a hat on.

Cap

A percussion cap.

Hat

(transitive) To appoint as cardinal.

Cap

A small explosive charge enclosed in paper for use in a toy gun.

Hat

(intransitive) To shop for hats.

Cap

Any of several sizes of writing paper, such as foolscap.

Hat

Hot.

Cap

(Sports) An appearance by a player in an international soccer game, traditionally rewarded with a hat.

Hat

A covering for the head; esp., one with a crown and brim, made of various materials, and worn by men or women for protecting the head from the sun or weather, or for ornament.

Cap

A capital letter.

Hat

Headdress that protects the head from bad weather; has shaped crown and usually a brim

Cap

Capital
Venture cap.

Hat

An informal term for a person's role;
He took off his politician's hat and talked frankly

Cap

Capitalization
Market cap.

Hat

Put on or wear a hat;
He was unsuitably hatted

Cap

To cover, protect, or seal with a cap.

Hat

Furnish with a hat

Cap

To award a special cap to as a sign of rank or achievement
Capped the new women nurses at graduation.

Cap

To lie over or on top of; cover
Hills capped with snow.

Cap

To apply the finishing touch to; complete
Cap a meal with dessert.

Cap

To follow with something better; surpass or outdo
Capped his last trick with a disappearing act that brought the audience to its feet.

Cap

To set an upper limit on
Decided to cap cost-of-living increases.

Cap

To capitalize.

Cap

A close-fitting hat, either brimless or peaked.
The children were all wearing caps to protect them from the sun.

Cap

A special hat to indicate rank, occupation, etc.

Cap

An academic mortarboard.

Cap

A protective cover or seal.
He took the cap off the bottle and splashed himself with some cologne.

Cap

A crown for covering a tooth.
He had golden caps on his teeth.

Cap

The summit of a mountain, etc.
There was snow on the cap of the mountain.

Cap

An artificial upper limit or ceiling.
We should put a cap on the salaries, to keep them under control.

Cap

The top part of a mushroom.

Cap

(toy) A small amount of percussive explosive in a paper strip or plastic cup for use in a toy gun.
Billy spent all morning firing caps with his friends, re-enacting storming the beach at Normandy.

Cap

A small explosive device used to detonate a larger charge of explosives.
He wired the cap to the bundle of dynamite, then detonated it remotely.

Cap

(slang) A bullet used to shoot someone.

Cap

A lie or exaggeration.
No cap

Cap

(sport) A place on a national team; an international appearance.

Cap

(obsolete) The top, or uppermost part; the chief.

Cap

(obsolete) A respectful uncovering of the head.

Cap

(zoology) The whole top of the head of a bird from the base of the bill to the nape of the neck.

Cap

(architecture) The uppermost of any assemblage of parts.
The cap of column, door, etc.; a capital, coping, cornice, lintel, or plate

Cap

Something covering the top or end of a thing for protection or ornament.

Cap

(nautical) 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.

Cap

(geometry) A portion of a spherical or other convex surface.

Cap

A large size of writing paper.
Flat cap; foolscap; legal cap

Cap

(finance) Capitalization.

Cap

(informal) An uppercase or capital letter.

Cap

(electronics) A capacitor.
Parasitic caps.
I had to replace the caps in that thing to get it to work again.

Cap

(colloquial) A recording or screenshot.
Anyone have a cap of the games last night?

Cap

(slang) A capsule of a drug.

Cap

(colloquial) A capitalist.

Cap

Capillary

Cap

(obsolete) A wooden drinking-bowl with two handles.

Cap

(transitive) To cover or seal with a cap.

Cap

(transitive) To award a cap as a mark of distinction.

Cap

(transitive) To lie over or on top of something.

Cap

(transitive) To surpass or outdo.

Cap

(transitive) To set an upper limit on something.
Cap wages.

Cap

(transitive) To make something even more wonderful at the end.
That really capped my day.

Cap

To select a player to play for a specified side.

Cap

To shoot (someone) with a firearm.
If he don't get outta my hood, I'm gonna cap his ass.
In a school shooting, where some kid caps a bunch of other kids, where did he get the weapon? From a family member, probably their gun cabinet.

Cap

To lie; to tell a lie.

Cap

To select to play for the national team.
Peter Shilton is the most capped English footballer.

Cap

To salute by uncovering the head respectfully.

Cap

To deprive of a cap.

Cap

To convert text to uppercase.

Cap

(transitive) To take a screenshot or to record a copy of a video.

Cap

A covering for the head

Cap

The top, or uppermost part; the chief.
Thou art the cap of all the fools alive.

Cap

A respectful uncovering of the head.
He that will give a cap and make a leg in thanks.

Cap

The whole top of the head of a bird from the base of the bill to the nape of the neck.

Cap

Anything resembling a cap in form, position, or use

Cap

A large size of writing paper; as, flat cap; foolscap; legal cap.

Cap

To cover with a cap, or as with a cap; to provide with a cap or cover; to cover the top or end of; to place a cap upon the proper part of; as, to cap a post; to cap a gun.
The bones next the joint are capped with a smooth cartilaginous substance.

Cap

To deprive of cap.

Cap

To complete; to crown; to bring to the highest point or consummation; as, to cap the climax of absurdity.

Cap

To salute by removing the cap.
Tom . . . capped the proctor with the profoundest of bows.

Cap

To match; to mate in contest; to furnish a complement to; as, to cap text; to cap proverbs.
Now I have him under girdle I'll cap verses with him to the end of the chapter.

Cap

To uncover the head respectfully.

Cap

A tight-fitting headdress

Cap

A top (as for a bottle)

Cap

A mechanical or electrical explosive device or a small amount of explosive; can be used to initiate the reaction of a disrupting explosive

Cap

Something serving as a cover or protection

Cap

A fruiting structure resembling an umbrella that forms the top of a stalked fleshy fungus such as a mushroom

Cap

An upper limit on what is allowed;
They established a cap for prices

Cap

Dental appliance consisting of an artificial crown for a tooth

Cap

The upper part of a column that supports the entablature

Cap

Lie at the top of;
Snow capped the mountains

Cap

Restrict the number or amount of;
We had to cap the number of people we can accept into our club

Difference between Hat?

A hat is a crown shaped headgear with brim; this could be used for various purposes like style statement, safety, and as an accessory for the religious ceremonies. For instance, Muslims, the followers of Islam are asked to wear a hat while offering their prayers. The point which differentiates the different type of hats from one and another is the shape of the brim. The hat also denotes the status and rank in some parts of the world as it’s issued as the part of the uniform in departments like police and military. Other than this, the tribes head wear a special type of hat that denotes his supremacy and dominance on others. At first, the hats were merely known for the safety of headgear, but now in the current world, there is various type of hats that are more purposeful to look elegant and beautiful. As mentioned above, the brim makes the difference in different types of hats; for example, the sunhat, which shades the face has a wide brim to do so. Contrary to this, the hard hats, which are used as an element of protection have a small brim. Visor hats, rain hats, fedora hats, bucket hats, top hats, bowler hats, Panama hats, and cowboy hats are some of the prominent types of hats.

Difference between Cap?

A cap is a type of hat, which usually has a peak and lacks the brim. There are different types of caps used across the globe for various purposes like a fashion item, part of the uniform and even used for warmth in the winter seasons. Different special materials are used to make the caps; as some caps are used for providing warmth and another one to provide shades. The caps are simple but efficient head hear that protects the face from the sunlight and provide shades. Therefore they are widely used in the sports like cricket, tennis, baseball and golf. The other best thing about these caps is that they are quite light weight and can also be used to cover the hairs on the head, so they don’t interrupt during the activity. The crowns of the cap are fit very close to the head, and they always have peak or visor, which differentiates it from the hat.

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