Meaning
In a humble, deferential, supplicating manner, especially when asking someone for money, a job or a favour, as in 'go cap in hand to someone'. It is the standard British form; North American English prefers 'hat in hand'. Often self-deprecating or disapproving, stressing the humiliation involved in begging a favour. Regional use: British English (clothing origin); 'hat in hand' in North American English.
Origin
The idiom rests on the old etiquette of the bared head: to hold your cap in your hand, leaving your head uncovered, was a mark of respect and subordination before a social superior, and beggars similarly held out their caps to receive alms - idiom references note both strands of the image, the Farlex Partner Idioms dictionary explicitly calling the uncovered head a sign of respect and the cap a version of a begging bowl. The anchor is confirmed: 'cap in hand' is the British form and 'hat in hand' the North American equivalent. Dating is less tidy. Merriam-Webster is widely reported to give a first known use of 1733 for 'cap in hand', and literal-feeling uses occur in 17th- and 18th-century documents, but the Merriam-Webster entry could not be independently fetched in this research, so the precise first attestation is stated here with moderate rather than high confidence; the underlying custom of doffing the cap is unquestionably centuries older than any citation.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- cap-in-hand (adjective)
- come cap in hand
- go cap in hand to someone
- hat in hand (North American)
Usage Examples
- The club went cap in hand to the council for a third year of funding, and for the third year it was refused.
- He had to stand there cap in hand while his father-in-law decided whether to lend him the deposit.
- After mocking small studios for years, the network arrived cap in hand asking for a co-production.