thinking cap

See synonyms for thinking cap on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a state of mind marked by reflection or concentration: If we put on our thinking caps, we may come up with the answer.

Origin of thinking cap

1
First recorded in 1870–75

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use thinking cap in a sentence

  • But his head was too hot to wear a thinking cap, and no story would come at his half-hearted call.

  • Now you put your thinking cap on and invent a name, something romantic and pretty.

    The Imaginary Marriage | Henry St. John Cooper
  • Old Styf answered "yes" at once to their request, and put on his red thinking cap.

    Dutch Fairy Tales for Young Folks | William Elliot Griffis
  • There was nothing for it but to bow to the inevitable, break my journey, and put my thinking-cap on.

  • "And this head of mine would have to put on its thinking-cap," he pursued jovially.

    The Leavenworth Case | Anna Katherine Green

Other Idioms and Phrases with thinking cap

thinking cap

see put on one's thinking cap.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.