Crossword Genius

Being humble, turned up to return lost headgear (3,2,4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

cap in hand

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'being humble turned up to return lost headgear' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot tell whether it can be defined by this definition.

'being humble turned up to return lost headgear' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'being' could be 'hand' (hand is a kind of being) and 'hand' is found within the answer.
'headgear' could be 'cap' (cap is a kind of headgear) and 'cap' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'in' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for cap in hand that I've seen before include "seeking favour" , "with humility" , "showing deference" , "In begging posture" , "unassumingly" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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