capital

[[t]kæ̱pɪt(ə)l[/t]]

♦

capitals

1) N-UNCOUNT Capital is a large sum of money which you use to start a business, or which you invest in order to make more money.

Companies are having difficulty in raising capital...

A large amount of capital is invested in all these branches.

2) N-UNCOUNT: usu N n You can use capital to refer to buildings or machinery which are necessary to produce goods or to make companies more efficient, but which do not make money directly.

...capital equipment that could have served to increase production.

...capital investment.

3) N-UNCOUNT Capital is the part of an amount of money borrowed or invested which does not include interest.

With a conventional repayment mortgage, the repayments consist of both capital and interest.

Syn:

principal

4) N-COUNT: usu the N in sing, oft N of n The capital of a country is the city or town where its government or parliament meets.

...Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal.

5) N-COUNT: usu the N in sing, with supp If a place is the capital of a particular industry or activity, it is the place that is most famous for it, because it happens in that place more than anywhere else.

Colmar has long been considered the capital of the wine trade.

...New York, the fashion capital of the world.

6) N-COUNT Capitals or capital letters are written or printed letters in the form which is used at the beginning of sentences or names. `T', `B', and `F' are capitals.

The name and address are written in capitals.

7) ADJ: ADJ n A capital offence is one that is so serious that the person who commits it can be punished by death.

Espionage is a capital offence in this country.

...Americans wrongly convicted of capital crimes.

8) N-COUNT A capital is the top part of a stone column, which is sometimes decorated with stone leaves or other patterns. [TECHNICAL]

Ant:

base

9) → See also working capital

10) PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n (disapproval) If you say that someone is making capital out of a situation, you disapprove of the way they are gaining an advantage for themselves through other people's efforts or bad luck. [FORMAL]

He rebuked the President for trying to make political capital out of the hostage situation.

Syn:

cash in on

11) PHRASE: n PHR n (emphasis) You can use phrases such as `Life with a capital L', to emphasize that a word has a particular significance in the situation you are talking about. [INFORMAL]

She's not feminist with a capital F but she's fairly controversial.