A verb appearing in the initial drafts of Outline of Phonetic Development (OP1) from the 1940s as ᴹQ. kapta- “make spring, scatter”, a combination of ᴹ√KAP “leap” with the causative suffix ᴹ✶-tā so more literally “make leap”, and having a variant kapsa- in the Lindarin dialect (PE19/41-43, note #79). Tolkien rejected the relevant section while exploring other possible phonetic developments of pt (PE19/41).
Conceptual Development: In the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s, ᴱQ. kapta- was glossed {“swallow” >>} “startle” under the early root ᴱ√KAPA “leap, spring”, though Tolkien marked this word with a “?” (QL/45). In documents from the 1920s, ᴱQ. kapta- was glossed “leap” (PE14/56, 58, 66).
Neo-Quenya: Since kapta- is consistent with the phonetic rules described in the Outline of Phonology (OP2) from the 1950s, I would retain ᴺQ. capta- (pronounced [kaɸta]) with the senses “to make spring, scatter; to startle”. In ordinary use I would assume capta- mainly means “startle, (orig.) make leap”. To emphasize that the startled individuals actually scatter away, I would combine it with the adverb öa “away”: captalvet oa = “we scattered them, (lit.) we startled them away”.
A word in the Declension of Nouns (DN) from the early 1930s glossed “case, vessel” (PE21/20). It appeared in both a short form kas (kaps-) and longer kapsa (PE21/27). It might be derived from ᴹ√KAB “hollow” as suggested by Raccoon in a Discord chat from 2022. If so, its general meaning might be “✱container”.