[f. CAP sb. + -FUL.] As much as a cap will contain. A capful of wind (Naut.): ‘a light flaw, which suddenly careens a vessel, and passes off’ (Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk.).
1719. De Foe, Crusoe, 7. You were frightened, wa’n’t you, last night, when it blew but a cap-full of wind?
1851. Longf., Gold. Leg., V. At Sea. I was whistling to Saint Antonio for a capful of wind to fill our sail.
1873. C. Robinson, N. S. Wales, 44. When down the shaft one night he picked up a capful of quartz worth £20.
