nightcap

name

1. A locality in the Byron council area and the Lismore council area, north-eastern New South Wales, Australia.

noun

Etymology: From night + cap.

1. A warm cloth cap worn while sleeping, often with pajamas, being common attire in northern Europe before effective home heating became widespread.

   “Winston wore a nightcap to stave off the cold.”

2. A beverage drunk before bed that is usually alcoholic.

   “I'll make myself a nightcap of whisky and lemon before heading to bed.”

   “You know the other night, when I had dinner with Afro-Dite? When Jo was in San Francisco? Well we dropped into the Sinners, right, just for a nightcap.”

3. Something that a person reads or listens to before bed.

   “"[…] and as a nightcap I happened to pick the copy of Plato […]"”

4. The final match of a sporting contest, especially the second game of a baseball doubleheader.
5. A cap drawn over the face of the condemned person before they are hanged.

verb

Etymology: From night + cap.

1. To drink an alcoholic beverage shortly before retiring to bed.

   “Even better than breakfast, though, is nightcapping at the Waffle House . Nightcapping happens after the bars close, but before the southern sunrise: the hours when their jukeboxes play “Freebird” on a continual loop, […]”

   “We nightcapped at the Four Seasons Hotel George V, on the most extravagant cocktails I'd ever purchased in life.”