cap

(hand in cap), prob. with ref. to the draw- ing of lots.] I. m. 1}. An old game at cards, not unlike loo. To the Miter Taverne in Woodstreete. Here some of us fell to handycappe, a sport that I never knew before. Pepys, Diary, Sept. 18, 1660. 2. In racing and athletics, an extra burden placed upon, or a special requirement made of, a superior competitor in favor of an inferior, in order to make their chances more equal. In a horserace the handicap is usually an additional weight to be carried by the better horse; in a foot-race, jumping-match, etc., a shorter time, greater distance, or the like, for the superior contestant. The amount of the handicap is adjusted in accordance with the performance of the competitors in previous contests; and in horse-racing regard is had also to the age, sex, and height of the horses. ‘The principle is applied in other contests of agility or skill: thus, in draughts, a superior player is handicapped if he plays against an unskilful or inexperienced player with eleven men to the latter's twelve. 3. A race in which the supposed superiority of certain competitors is counterbalanced by penalties of additional weight, distance, or time imposed on them, or the inferiority of others is compensated by a certain amount of time or distance granted them in starting; any contest or competition in which an allowance of time or distance or other advantage is given to an inferior competitor: as, the Newmarket handicap. The race. showed a heavy entry; public runners were heavily weighted; the nominations included many horses that had never been out before. In one way and another the United Service handicap had grown into the event of the meeting. Whyte Melville, Satanella, xii. 2704 II. a. Noting a contest in which certain competitors are handicapped: as, a handicap race. or game.