cut capers

cut capers

To play and run around in a jubilant manner. The weather is so nice that the kids have been cutting capers in the back yard all morning. The dog has been cooped up inside all day, so let him cut capers in the yard for a while. I practically cut capers when I left the room after my final exam as an undergrad!

See also: caper, cut

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

cut capers

Also, cut a caper. Frolic or romp, as in The children cut capers in the pile of raked leaves. The noun caper comes from the Latin for "goat," and the allusion is to act in the manner of a young goat clumsily frolicking about. The expression was first recorded in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night (1:3): "Faith, I can cut a caper."

See also: caper, cut

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.