Word.ws English Dictionary

hand-in-cap

hand-in-cap noun: an old English trading game where two players want to trade possessions. An umpire decides whether the items have the same value, and if not, what the difference is. Both players and umpire then put some forfeit money in a cap. The players put their hands in the cap, and then remove them either open, to signal agreement with the valuation, or closed, to signal disagreement. If both players agree, the difference in valuation is paid, the items are traded, and the umpire collects the forfeit. If both players disagree, the items are not traded, and the umpire collects the forfeit. If one player agrees and the other does not, the items are not traded, and the player who agreed to the valuation collects the forfeit.

Noun

hand-in-cap (uncountable)

  1. (obsolete) An old English trading game where two players want to trade possessions. An umpire decides whether the items have the same value, and if not, what the difference is. Both players and umpire then put some forfeit money in a cap. The players put their hands in the cap, and then remove them either open, to signal agreement with the valuation, or closed, to signal disagreement. If both players agree, the difference in valuation is paid, the items are traded, and the umpire collects the forfeit. If both players disagree, the items are not traded, and the umpire collects the forfeit. If one player agrees and the other does not, the items are not traded, and the player who agreed to the valuation collects the forfeit.
    Synonyms:
    handicap

Synonyms of hand-in-cap

Words formed from hand-in-cap

Questions about hand-in-cap

What does hand-in-cap mean?
Hand-in-cap means an old English trading game where two players want to trade possessions. An umpire decides whether the items have the same value, and if not, what the difference is. Both players and umpire then put some forfeit money in a cap. The players put their hands in the cap, and then remove them either open, to signal agreement with the valuation, or closed, to signal disagreement. If both players agree, the difference in valuation is paid, the items are traded, and the umpire collects the forfeit. If both players disagree, the items are not traded, and the umpire collects the forfeit. If one player agrees and the other does not, the items are not traded, and the player who agreed to the valuation collects the forfeit.
What part of speech is hand-in-cap?
Hand-in-cap is a noun.

Words near hand-in-cap in the dictionary

  1. hand-hold
  2. hand-holding
  3. hand-holds
  4. hand-hole
  5. hand-holes
  6. hand-in-cap
  7. hand-in-glove
  8. hand-in-hand
  9. hand-kercher
  10. hand-kiss
  11. hand-kissed

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: hand-in-cap (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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