sb. pl. north. dial. and Sc. a. Grains of corn to which the husk continues to adhere after threshing; b. The grain that is not sufficiently ground; c. Flakes of meal that come from the mill when the grain has not been sufficiently dried. (Jamieson.)
1641. Best, Farm. Bks. (1856), 103. The chaffe, capes and heads gather togeather on the toppe and are taken off.
1790. Morrison, Poems, 110. Wi’ capes, the mill she gard them ring … Then Goodie wi’ her tentie paw, Did capes an’ seeds the gether ca’.
1796. W. H. Marshall, Yorksh. (ed. 2), I. 362. To separate the chaff, the capes, and the grain.
1847–78. Halliwell, Capes, ears of corn broken off in thrashing.
