Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

throw one's cap over the windmill

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.11 in modern English

Syllables: throw one's -cap over the wind-mill
IPA

49

Scrabble Score

27

Letters

3

Syllables

16

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To act in a bizarre, eccentric or immoral manner.

Dated

Example Sentences

"Awfully commercial, women nowadays. Our grandmothers threw their caps over the mills, of course, but, by Jove, their granddaughters only throw their caps over mills that can raise the wind for them."
"Even Catherine’s own mother scandalized her daughter by succumbing to the contagion of the place, and “throwing her cap over the windmill,” as the French have it."
"Besides, Suzanne had already thrown her bonnet over the windmill."

Etymology

Probably a calque of French jeter son bonnet par-dessus les moulins . Widely reported as deriving from a passage in the novel Don Quixote in which the titular character throws his cap over a windmill that he has mistaken for a giant, as a challenge. However, no such passage exists in the book.

Usage

Dated

Inflected Forms

throws one's cap over the windmill (present, singular) throwing one's cap over the windmill (participle, present) threw one's cap over the windmill (past) thrown one's cap over the windmill (participle, past)

Phrases

cap over the windmill tilt at windmills

Frequently Paired Words

tilt at windmills

Synonyms

throw one's hat over the windmill

Questions

What does throw one's cap over the windmill mean?: To act in a bizarre, eccentric or immoral manner.
Where does throw one's cap over the windmill come from?: Probably a calque of French jeter son bonnet par-dessus les moulins . Widely reported as deriving from a passage in the novel Don Quixote in which the titular character throws his cap over a windmill that he has mistaken for a giant, as a challenge. However, no such passage exists in the book.

How to pronounce throw one's cap over the windmill

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