Capsizes

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To cause a boat or vessel to overturn in the water
2. To flip a watercraft upside down or cause it to tip over
3. To make a ship or small craft turn over on its side or completely invert

Etymology: "Capsizes" is the third-person singular present form of "capsize", so its history is the history of the verb. The verb is first attested in 1788, and its origin is unknown. One possibility is a link to the Spanish "chapuzar", meaning to sink by the head, which would fit the image of a boat going head-first under the water, though the connection is not established. The verb has since spread from its original nautical setting into wider use, describing anything that turns upside down, such as a vehicle or a chair tipped over onto its back.

Synonyms: overturns, upends