cap stealing

English

Noun

cap stealing (uncountable)

1. (virology) Synonym of cap snatching.
   • 1996 August 15, Friedemann Weber et al., “Nucleoprotein viral RNA and mRNA of Thogoto virus: a novel "cap-stealing" mechanism in tick-borne orthomyxoviruses?”, in Journal of Virology, volume 70, number 12:

     Influenza viruses require host cell nuclear functions for at least two critical steps in their multiplication cycle: mRNA splicing and a unique process called cap stealing.