throw one's cap over the windmill

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb

To act in a bizarre, eccentric or immoral manner.

Pronunciation

En-au-throw one's cap over the windmill.ogg

Word forms

throw one's cap over the windmill throws one's cap over the windmill throwing one's cap over the windmill threw one's cap over the windmill thrown one's cap over the windmill

Etymology

Probably a calque of French jeter son bonnet par-dessus les moulins . Widely reported as deriving from a passage in the novel Don Quixote in which the titular character throws his cap over a windmill that he has mistaken for a giant, as a challenge. However, no such passage exists in the book.

Synonyms

throw one's hat over the windmill

Related words

tilt at windmills

Derived words

cap over the windmill

← throw off
← throw off balance
← throw off on
← throw off the trail
← throw on

throw one's hat in the ring →
throw one's hat into the ring →
throw one's hat over the fence →
throw one's hat over the wall →
throw one's hat over the windmill →

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.

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