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dunce cap

American  
Or dunce's cap

noun

  1. a tall, cone-shaped hat formerly worn by slow or lazy students as a punishment in school.

dunce cap British  

noun

  1. a conical paper hat, formerly placed on the head of a dull child at school

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of dunce cap

First recorded in 1830–40

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.