hat S1 W3 /hæt/ noun [countable]
[Language: Old English; Origin: hæt]

1. a piece of clothing that you wear on your head:
Maria was wearing a beautiful new hat.
straw/cowboy/bowler etc hat
in a hat
a man in a fur hat
bowler-hatted/top-hatted etc (=wearing a bowler hat, top hat etc)
a bowler-hatted gentleman

2. keep something under your hat informal to keep something secret

3. be wearing your teacher’s/salesman’s etc hat (also have your teacher’s/salesman’s etc hat on) informal to be performing the duties of a teacher etc, which are not your only duties:
I’m a manager now and only put my salesman’s hat on when one of our sales reps is having real problems.

4. I take my hat off to somebody (also hats off to somebody) informal used to say you admire someone very much because of what they have done:
I take my hat off to Ian – without him we’d have never finished this project on time.

5. be drawn/pulled/picked out of the/a hat if someone’s name is drawn out of a hat, they are chosen, for example as the winner of a competition, because their name is the first one that is taken out of a container containing the names of all the people involved:
The first correct entry out of the hat on September 2nd will win a prize.

6. pass the hat around to collect money from a group of people, especially in order to buy someone a present

7. throw/toss your hat into the ring to say publicly that you will compete in an election or for a job
⇒ hard hat, old hat, ⇒ at the drop of a hat at drop²(5), ⇒ I’ll eat my hat at eat(8), ⇒ hang up your hat at hang up(3), ⇒ be talking through your hat at talk¹(29)

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

hat
noun
ADJ. broad-brimmed, wide-brimmed | floppy | battered | pointed | fur, straw, woollen, woolly | bobble, bowler, hard, panama, party, peaked, picture, riding, sun (also sunhat), ten-gallon, three-cornered, top
VERB + HAT don, place He placed a battered felt hat on his head.
doff, remove | raise, tip, touch The doorman tipped his hat as we entered.
HAT + VERB be trimmed with sth The governor wore a cocked hat trimmed with white feathers.
HAT + NOUN box | shop | stand
PHRASES pull a hat (down) over your ears/eyes/face
 ⇒ Special page at CLOTHES

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

hat
hæt
See: at the drop of a hat , brass hat , hang on to your hat or hold on to your hat or hold your hat , high-hat , keep under one's hat , old hat , pull out of a hat , take off one's hat to , talk through one's hat , ten-gallon hat , throw one's hat in the ring

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲