idiom · neutral
put on one's thinking cap
UK/pʊt ɒn wʌnz ˈθɪŋkɪŋ kæp/US/pʊt ɑn wʌnz ˈθɪŋkɪŋ kæp/THINK·ing·CAP
to think carefully in order to solve a problem
Examples
“When the group couldn't agree on the plan, I had to put on my thinking cap and suggest a compromise.”
“Before the test he always puts on his thinking cap for a few minutes.”
“If we want a workable solution, everyone needs to put on their thinking caps.”
Band 8 sentence
“When the prototype failed in front of the panel, I put on my thinking cap and proposed a simple tweak that saved the whole project.”
Collocations
- put on your thinking cap
- don/put on one's thinking cap for
Word family
Common mistakes
I put my thinking cap.→I put on my thinking cap.
put on my thinking hat→put on my thinking cap
Say it for a higher band
5think→6think carefully→7+put on one's thinking cap
Synonyms
think hard
Easily confused
think outside the box
“When designing the campaign, we had to think outside the box.”
Related words
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In Study
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