mob cap

Definition

A plain cap or headdress for women or girls, especially one tied under the chin by a very broad band, and having a puffy crown and frills.

Etymology

From mob (“unruly group”) + cap (“hat”), in reference to the riots of French Revolution.

Example Sentences

• "You must get a brown gown, and a white apron, and a mob cap, and we must make you a few wrinkles, and a little of the crowsfoot at the corner of your eyes, and you will be a very proper, little old woman."
• "She was dressed entirely in flowing black cerements and wore a little lacy mob-cap on a mass of dead-looking yellowish white hair; her features were still beautiful, but her face was completely covered with mauve face-powder."