Cab vs. Cap — What's the Difference?
By Maham Liaqat & Fiza Rafique — Updated on May 10, 2024
A cab is a vehicle used as a taxi or the compartment of a truck, while a cap is a head covering or a protective lid on containers.
Difference Between Cab and Cap
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
A cab refers to a car used as a taxi or the driver's compartment of vehicles like trucks or tractors. A cap, on the other hand, is typically worn on the head as a hat or functions as a cover to seal or protect containers.
In transportation, a cab is the area where the driver sits, often equipped with controls and instruments, and can also mean a taxi. Caps, however, have no direct connection to vehicles, instead being used to cover objects, protect surfaces, or as headgear.
A cab is usually enclosed and ensures the driver's safety and comfort during transit, while a cap provides protection from the elements or prevents spills when sealing a bottle or container.
Cabs are essential in transportation industries for both commercial and personal use, while caps have broader applications, from fashion to household items.
Comparison Chart
Definition
Vehicle or compartment for a driver
Head covering or protective lid
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Transportation
Taxi or compartment in trucks
N/A
Primary Purpose
Driving, transporting passengers
Protecting surfaces, sealing containers
Enclosure
Enclosed structure
Can be partially open or enclosed
Other Usage
N/A
Fashion, sports, medical
Compare with Definitions
Cab
An enclosed compartment for the operator of machinery.
The crane operator sat in the cab to control the equipment.
Cap
Cover for bottles, tubes, or containers.
Replace the cap on the bottle after use to prevent spills.
Cab
A car used for hire, a taxi.
They took a cab home after the party.
Cap
Protective cover for equipment or surfaces.
She placed a cap over the camera lens for protection.
Cab
The driver's compartment of a truck, bus, or train.
The driver stayed warm in the cab despite the rain.
Cap
Limit or ceiling on quantity or cost.
The government set a cap on fuel prices to help consumers.
Cab
Vehicle compartment providing controls and comfort.
Newer truck cabs are ergonomically designed for long hauls.
Cap
Headwear, usually with a visor or brim.
He wore a baseball cap to shield his eyes from the sun.
Cab
The pilot's compartment in aircraft.
The pilot locked the cab door before takeoff.
Cap
Uppermost part or peak of an object.
The mountain was capped with snow in winter.
Cab
A taxi
She hailed a cab
Cab drivers
Cap
A cap is a kind of soft and flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head.
Cab
The driver's compartment in a lorry, bus, or train.
Cap
A kind of soft, flat hat without a brim and typically with a peak
A man wearing a raincoat and a flat cap
Her cap of dark hair
Cab
A cabinet containing a speaker or speakers for a guitar amplifier.
Cap
A protective lid or cover for an object such as a bottle, the point of a pen, or a camera lens
A glass bottle with a screw cap
A lens cap from a camera
Cab
Travel in a taxi
Roger cabbed home
Cap
An upper limit imposed on spending or borrowing
He raised the cap on local authority spending
Cab
A taxicab.
Cap
A contraceptive diaphragm.
Cab
The covered compartment of a heavy vehicle or machine, such as a truck or locomotive, in which the operator or driver sits.
Cap
The broad upper part of the fruiting body of most mushrooms and toadstools, at the top of a stem and bearing gills or pores.
Cab
A one-horse vehicle for public hire.
Cap
Short for percussion cap
Cab
An ancient Hebrew unit of measure equal to about 2 liters (2.1 quarts).
Cap
Short for capitalization
Small-cap stocks
Mid-cap companies
Cab
To ride or travel in a taxicab
We cabbed to the opera.
Cap
Put a lid or cover on
He capped his pen
Cab
To drive a taxicab
He cabs for a living.
Cap
Provide a fitting climax or conclusion to
He capped a memorable season by becoming champion of champions
Cab
Compartment at the front of a truck or train for the driver.
A cab ride
Cap
Place a limit or restriction on (prices, expenditure, or borrowing)
Council budgets will be capped
Cab
Shelter at the top of an air traffic control tower or fire lookout tower.
Cap
Be chosen as a member of a particular sports team, especially a national one
He was capped ten times by England
Cab
Any of several four-wheeled carriages; a cabriolet.
Cap
Confer a university degree on.
Cab
Synonym of taxi
Cap
A usually soft and close-fitting head covering, either having no brim or with a visor.
Cab
A former Hebrew unit of volume, about equal to 1.3{{nbsp}}L as a dry measure or 1.25{{nbsp}}L as a liquid measure.
Cap
A special head covering worn to indicate rank, occupation, or membership in a particular group
A cardinal's cap.
A sailor's cap.
Cab
An arcade cabinet, the unit in which a video game is housed in a gaming arcade.
Cap
An academic mortarboard. Used especially in the phrase cap and gown.
Cab
Alternative form of CAB}}; {{clipping of; a compress library archive file.
Cap
A protective cover or seal, especially one that closes off an end or a tip
A bottle cap.
A 35-millimeter lens cap.
Cab
To travel by taxicab.
Cap
A crown for covering or sealing a tooth.
Cab
A kind of close carriage with two or four wheels, usually a public vehicle.
Cap
A truck cap.
Cab
The covered part of a locomotive, in which the engineer has his station.
Cap
A tread for a worn pneumatic tire.
Cab
A Hebrew dry measure, containing a little over two (2.37) pints.
Cap
A fitted covering used to seal a well or large pipe.
Cab
A compartment in front of a motor vehicle where driver sits
Cap
Chiefly Southern US See eye.
Cab
Small two-wheeled horse-drawn carriage; with two seats and a folding hood
Cap
A summit or top, as of a mountain.
Cab
A car driven by a person whose job is to take passengers where they want to go in exchange for money
Cap
An upper limit; a ceiling
Placed a cap on mortgage rates.
Cap
(Architecture) The capital of a column.
Cap
The top part, or pileus, of a mushroom.
Cap
A calyptra.
Cap
A percussion cap.
Cap
A small explosive charge enclosed in paper for use in a toy gun.
Cap
Any of several sizes of writing paper, such as foolscap.
Cap
(Sports) An appearance by a player in an international soccer game, traditionally rewarded with a hat.
Cap
A capital letter.
Cap
Capital
Venture cap.
Cap
Capitalization
Market cap.
Cap
To cover, protect, or seal with a cap.
Cap
To award a special cap to as a sign of rank or achievement
Capped the new women nurses at graduation.
Cap
To lie over or on top of; cover
Hills capped with snow.
Cap
To apply the finishing touch to; complete
Cap a meal with dessert.
Cap
To follow with something better; surpass or outdo
Capped his last trick with a disappearing act that brought the audience to its feet.
Cap
To set an upper limit on
Decided to cap cost-of-living increases.
Cap
To capitalize.
Cap
A close-fitting hat, either brimless or peaked.
The children were all wearing caps to protect them from the sun.
Cap
A special hat to indicate rank, occupation, etc.
Cap
An academic mortarboard.
Cap
A protective cover or seal.
He took the cap off the bottle and splashed himself with some cologne.
Cap
A crown for covering a tooth.
He had golden caps on his teeth.
Cap
The summit of a mountain, etc.
There was snow on the cap of the mountain.
Cap
An artificial upper limit or ceiling.
We should put a cap on the salaries, to keep them under control.
Cap
The top part of a mushroom.
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.
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.
Cap
(slang) A bullet used to shoot someone.
Cap
A lie or exaggeration.
No cap
Cap
(sport) A place on a national team; an international appearance.
Cap
(obsolete) The top, or uppermost part; the chief.
Cap
(obsolete) A respectful uncovering of the head.
Cap
(zoology) The whole top of the head of a bird from the base of the bill to the nape of the neck.
Cap
(architecture) The uppermost of any assemblage of parts.
The cap of column, door, etc.; a capital, coping, cornice, lintel, or plate
Cap
Something covering the top or end of a thing for protection or ornament.
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
Common Curiosities
How does a cab differ in trucks and taxis?
In trucks, a cab is the driver's compartment, while in taxis, it's the entire vehicle for hire.
Is a cap always worn on the head?
No, caps are also used as lids or covers for protection.
Can a cab refer to non-vehicle compartments?
Yes, a cab can refer to compartments in machinery or aircraft as well.
Do cabs have specific designs for different industries?
Yes, cabs vary in design based on the vehicle type, like trucks, tractors, or heavy machinery.
How do caps protect items beyond containers?
Caps also cover camera lenses, electrical connectors, and more to prevent damage.
What is the main difference between a cab and a cap?
A cab is a vehicle or compartment for a driver, while a cap is headwear or a protective cover.
Can cabs have different seating capacities?
Yes, truck cabs may seat only the driver, while taxi cabs accommodate multiple passengers.
Are cabs always enclosed structures?
Yes, cabs provide safety and comfort with fully enclosed structures.
What are common types of caps?
Caps include bottle caps, baseball caps, and protective covers.
Do cabs have safety features?
Yes, cabs typically include seat belts, airbags, and reinforced structures.
What is a bottle cap used for?
A bottle cap seals containers to prevent leaks and contamination.
What is a cap's role in fashion?
Caps like baseball caps or beanies are popular fashion accessories.
Can caps help identify brands or products?
Yes, caps often feature logos or distinctive designs for brand recognition.
Are cabs used in both public and private transportation?
Yes, cabs are used in taxis (public) and private vehicles like trucks.
What industries commonly use caps?
Caps are prevalent in food packaging, medical, and consumer products.
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Written by
Maham Liaqat
Co-written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
