Cap vs. Pill: What's the Difference?
Edited by Aimie Carlson || By Janet White || Updated on October 5, 2023
A "cap" typically refers to a covering, often for the head or a part of a container, whereas a "pill" is usually a small, solid dose of medication.
Key Differences
"Cap" and "pill" are nouns that refer to different objects. A cap serves as a cover or a lid, often designed to fit onto the end of something, such as the top of a bottle or the end of a pen. It is often used to protect, cover, or seal objects. For example, a bottle cap is used to prevent the liquid inside from spilling out. It can also refer to a type of headwear. Caps can come in various sizes and designs, depending on their intended use.
Conversely, a pill is a small, solid dosage form of medication intended for oral administration. Pills are usually compact, making them portable and easy to ingest, and they are one of the most common forms of medication delivery. They can contain a range of active pharmaceutical ingredients to address various health conditions and can be available over-the-counter or by prescription.
The word "cap" can also have several other meanings and uses in different contexts. For instance, it can refer to a limit or a restriction placed on something, such as a spending cap. The versatility of the word "cap" demonstrates its adaptability in the English language.
On the other hand, "pill" primarily maintains its association with medication and healthcare. Its usage is generally more specific and relates to the field of medicine, focusing on delivering substances intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent a variety of illnesses and conditions.
It's important to discern the contextual usage of "cap" given its various interpretations, while "pill" requires an understanding of its role in healthcare and medication, emphasizing its importance in treatment and prevention methodologies.
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Comparison Chart
Definition
A covering or lid.
A small, solid dose of medication.
Usage
Varied, used as coverings, limits, or types of headwear.
Primarily used in the context of medication.
Material
Made from a variety of materials like plastic or fabric.
Composed of active and inactive pharmaceutical ingredients.
Field
Can relate to various fields like fashion or packaging.
Typically associated with healthcare and medicine.
Grammatical Use
Can be used as a noun or verb, depending on the context.
Generally used as a noun.
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Cap and Pill Definitions
Cap
A protective lid or cover.
Please put the cap back on the milk bottle.
Pill
A small, solid dosage of medication.
The doctor prescribed a pill for my headache.
Cap
A type of headwear.
He wore a baseball cap.
Pill
A small, rounded or oval object.
The pillow had a small pill on the surface.
Cap
A limit or restriction.
There's a cap on the amount you can withdraw.
Pill
To form into small, rounded or oval objects.
The fabric started to pill after several washes.
Cap
A usually soft and close-fitting head covering, either having no brim or with a visor.
Pill
A small pellet or tablet of medicine, often coated, taken by swallowing whole or by chewing.
Cap
A special head covering worn to indicate rank, occupation, or membership in a particular group
A cardinal's cap.
A sailor's cap.
Pill
(Informal) An oral contraceptive. Used with the.
Cap
An academic mortarboard. Used especially in the phrase cap and gown.
Pill
(Slang) Something, such as a baseball, that resembles a pellet of medicine.
Cap
A protective cover or seal, especially one that closes off an end or a tip
A bottle cap.
A 35-millimeter lens cap.
Pill
Something both distasteful and necessary.
Cap
A crown for covering or sealing a tooth.
Pill
(Slang) An insipid or ill-natured person.
Cap
A truck cap.
Pill
To dose with pills.
Cap
A tread for a worn pneumatic tire.
Pill
To make into pills.
Cap
A fitted covering used to seal a well or large pipe.
Pill
(Slang) To blackball.
Cap
Chiefly Southern US See eye.
Pill
To form small balls resembling pills
A sweater that pills.
Cap
A summit or top, as of a mountain.
Pill
To come off, as in flakes or scales.
Cap
An upper limit; a ceiling
Placed a cap on mortgage rates.
Pill
To subject to extortion.
Cap
(Architecture) The capital of a column.
Pill
A small, usually round or cylindrical object designed for easy swallowing, usually containing some sort of medication.
Cap
The top part, or pileus, of a mushroom.
Pill
(strictly) Such an object that is of solid constitution (usually of compressed, bonded powder) rather than a capsule (with a shell containing loose powder or liquid).
Cap
A calyptra.
Pill
Contraceptive medication, usually in the form of a pill to be taken by a woman; an oral contraceptive pill.
Jane went on the pill when she left for college.
She got pregnant one month after going off the pill.
Cap
A percussion cap.
Pill
Something offensive, unpleasant or nauseous which must be accepted or endured.
Cap
A small explosive charge enclosed in paper for use in a toy gun.
Pill
(slang) A contemptible, annoying, or unpleasant person.
Cap
Any of several sizes of writing paper, such as foolscap.
Pill
(slang) A comical or entertaining person.
Cap
(Sports) An appearance by a player in an international soccer game, traditionally rewarded with a hat.
Pill
(textile) A small piece of any substance, for example a ball of fibres formed on the surface of a textile fabric by rubbing. Colloquially known as a bobble, fuzzball, or lint ball.
Cap
A capital letter.
Pill
A baseball.
Cap
Capital
Venture cap.
Pill
A bullet projectile.
Cap
Capitalization
Market cap.
Pill
(GUI) A rounded rectangle indicating the tag or category that an item belongs to.
Cap
To cover, protect, or seal with a cap.
Pill
(obsolete) The peel or skin.
Cap
To award a special cap to as a sign of rank or achievement
Capped the new women nurses at graduation.
Pill
An inlet on the coast; a small tidal pool or bay.
Cap
To lie over or on top of; cover
Hills capped with snow.
Pill
Of a woven fabric surface, to form small matted balls of fiber.
Cap
To apply the finishing touch to; complete
Cap a meal with dessert.
Pill
To form into the shape of a pill.
Pilling is a skill rarely used by modern pharmacists.
Cap
To follow with something better; surpass or outdo
Capped his last trick with a disappearing act that brought the audience to its feet.
Pill
(transitive) To medicate with pills.
She pills herself with all sorts of herbal medicines.
Cap
To set an upper limit on
Decided to cap cost-of-living increases.
Pill
To persuade or convince someone of something.
Cap
To capitalize.
Pill
To blackball (a potential club member).
Cap
A close-fitting hat, either brimless or peaked.
The children were all wearing caps to protect them from the sun.
Pill
(obsolete) To peel; to remove the outer layer of hair, skin, or bark.
Cap
A special hat to indicate rank, occupation, etc.
Pill
To peel; to make by removing the skin.
Cap
An academic mortarboard.
Pill
To be peeled; to peel off in flakes.
Cap
A protective cover or seal.
He took the cap off the bottle and splashed himself with some cologne.
Pill
(obsolete) To pillage; to despoil or impoverish.
Cap
A crown for covering a tooth.
He had golden caps on his teeth.
Pill
The peel or skin.
Cap
The summit of a mountain, etc.
There was snow on the cap of the mountain.
Pill
A medicine in the form of a little ball, or small round mass, to be swallowed whole.
Cap
An artificial upper limit or ceiling.
We should put a cap on the salaries, to keep them under control.
Pill
Figuratively, something offensive or nauseous which must be accepted or endured.
Cap
The top part of a mushroom.
Pill
To be peeled; to peel off in flakes.
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.
Pill
To deprive of hair; to make bald.
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.
Pill
To peel; to make by removing the skin.
[Jacob] pilled white streaks . . . in the rods.
Cap
(slang) A bullet used to shoot someone.
Pill
To rob; to plunder; to pillage; to peel. See Peel, to plunder.
Pillers and robbers were come in to the field to pill and to rob.
Cap
A lie or exaggeration.
No cap
Pill
Something that resembles a pill in shape or size
Cap
(sport) A place on a national team; an international appearance.
Pill
A dose of medicine in the form of a small pellet
Cap
(obsolete) The top, or uppermost part; the chief.
Pill
A unpleasant or tiresome person
Cap
(obsolete) A respectful uncovering of the head.
Pill
Something unpleasant or offensive that must be tolerated or endured;
His competitor's success was a bitter pill to take
Cap
(zoology) The whole top of the head of a bird from the base of the bill to the nape of the neck.
Pill
A contraceptive in the form of a pill containing estrogen and progestin to inhibit ovulation and so prevent conception
Cap
(architecture) The uppermost of any assemblage of parts.
The cap of column, door, etc.; a capital, coping, cornice, lintel, or plate
Pill
Something unpleasant that one must accept.
Losing the game was a bitter pill to swallow.
Cap
Something covering the top or end of a thing for protection or ornament.
Pill
A contraceptive in pill form.
The pill is a popular contraceptive method.
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
Cap
A decorative top or cover.
The ornamental cap adorned the fence post.
Cap
To cover or seal with a cap.
You need to cap the pen after using it.
FAQs
Can cap be used as a verb?
Yes, to cap can mean to cover, seal, or restrict.
Can the word cap refer to headwear?
Yes, a cap can refer to a type of headwear.
Can a cap serve as a limit?
Yes, cap can refer to a limit or restriction, like a spending cap.
Is a pill always a form of medication?
Primarily, but "pill" can also metaphorically refer to an unpleasant situation one must accept.
Are pills only available by prescription?
No, some pills are available over-the-counter.
Can a pill be any shape?
Pills are typically round or oval but can come in various shapes.
Is taking a pill the only way to administer medication?
No, medication can also be administered through injections, liquids, creams, etc.
Does cap have different meanings in different contexts?
Yes, cap can have varied meanings depending on the context.
Is a cap always removable?
Typically, but some caps are designed to be permanently sealed.
Can you break a pill into halves?
Some pills can be split, but it's essential to consult a healthcare provider first.
Can a cap be made of fabric?
Yes, like a baseball cap, it can be made of fabric.
Can the term cap refer to a decorative element?
Yes, cap can refer to a decorative top or cover on objects like fence posts.
Are all pills designed to treat illnesses?
No, some pills are supplements or vitamins and don’t treat illnesses.
Can a cap protect the contents of a container?
Yes, a cap can protect and seal the contents of a container.
Can pill refer to a contraceptive method?
Yes, "the pill" often refers to a contraceptive method.
About Author
Written by
Janet WhiteJanet White has been an esteemed writer and blogger for Difference Wiki. Holding a Master's degree in Science and Medical Journalism from the prestigious Boston University, she has consistently demonstrated her expertise and passion for her field. When she's not immersed in her work, Janet relishes her time exercising, delving into a good book, and cherishing moments with friends and family.
Edited by
Aimie CarlsonAimie Carlson, holding a master's degree in English literature, is a fervent English language enthusiast. She lends her writing talents to Difference Wiki, a prominent website that specializes in comparisons, offering readers insightful analyses that both captivate and inform.
