Meaning & use
whitecap
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Meanings
nouncountable
A wave whose top breaks into white foam, usually when the wind is strong.
Grammar: Countable and often plural: whitecaps dotted the bay.
Patterns
- whitecaps on something
Whitecaps dotted the bay as the wind picked up.
The ferry rocked through the whitecaps.
The sailors saw whitecaps and decided to head back.
nouncountable
A small, foamy crest on the surface of a lake or river.
Grammar: Often plural: whitecaps on the lake.
Patterns
- whitecaps on the lake
Small whitecaps raced across the lake.
The kayaker paddled slowly through the whitecaps.
The river showed whitecaps after the storm.
Word forms
| plural | whitecaps |
|---|
Common combinations
- whitecaps on the water
- We saw whitecaps on the water and knew it would be rough.
- whitecaps appear
- Whitecaps appear once the wind passes about fifteen knots.
- choppy with whitecaps
- The bay was choppy with whitecaps.
- whitecaps rolling in
- Whitecaps came rolling in from the horizon.
- sea of whitecaps
- The harbor looked like a sea of whitecaps.
Synonyms and how they differ
- breaker
- A breaker is any wave that breaks on the shore, while a whitecap breaks in open water.
- white horses
- White horses is a British phrase for whitecaps, and sounds more poetic.
- surf
- Surf means waves breaking near a beach, not foam on open water.
- ripple
- A ripple is a small gentle wave without foam, unlike a whitecap.
Word family
Commonly confused: whitecap or whitecap mushroom?
whitecap vs whitecap mushroom
A white cap mushroom is a kind of fungus; a whitecap is a foamy wave.
Practice
Seeing ___ across the bay, the sailors knew the wind had picked up and returned to shore.
Choose one answer.
Whitecaps are foamy wave tops that show strong wind. Ripples are gentler, smaller movements and would not worry sailors.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “whitecap”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.