Noun: dunce's cap
- A cone-shaped paper hat formerly placed on the head of slow or lazy pupils
"In the old schoolhouse museum, they displayed a dunce's cap as an example of outdated disciplinary methods";
- dunce cap [N. Amer], fool's cap
Derived forms: dunce's caps
Type of: chapeau [archaic], hat, lid [informal]
Encyclopedia: Dunce's cap