hat
Americannoun
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hats
plural
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a shaped covering for the head, usually with a crown and brim, especially for wear outdoors.
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Roman Catholic Church.
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the distinctive head covering of a cardinal.
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the office or dignity of a cardinal.
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verb (used with object)
idioms
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wear two / several hats, to function in more than one capacity; fill two or more positions.
He wears two hats, serving as the company's comptroller as well as its chief executive officer.
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take off one's hat to, to express high regard for; praise.
We took off our hats to their courage and daring.
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talk through one's hat, to speak without knowing the facts; make unsupported or incorrect statements.
He is talking through his hat when he says he'll make the team.
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throw / toss one's hat in the ring, to become a participant in a contest, especially to declare one's candidacy for political office.
His friends are urging him to throw his hat in the ring.
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under one's hat, confidential; private; secret.
I'll tell you the real story, but keep it under your hat.
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hat in hand, humbly; respectfully.
He approached the boss, hat in hand.
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pass the hat, to ask for contributions of money, as for charity; take up a collection.
The lodge members passed the hat to send underprivileged children to summer camp.
noun
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any of various head coverings, esp one with a brim and a shaped crown
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( in combination )
hatrack
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informal a role or capacity
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without hesitation or delay
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informal I will be greatly surprised if (something that proves me wrong) happens
I'll eat my hat if this book comes out late
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humbly or servilely
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to keep something secret
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informal (interjection)
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my word! my goodness!
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nonsense!
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something stale or old-fashioned
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as if by magic
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at random
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to collect money, as for a cause
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to admire or congratulate
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to talk foolishly
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to deceive or bluff
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to give up all hope of getting or achieving something
you can throw your hat at it now
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to announce one's intentions to be a candidate or contestant
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of hat
before 900; Middle English; Old English hætt; cognate with Old Norse hǫttr hood; akin to hood 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Ten years of the “pussyhat”: One of the most memorable—and controversial—symbols of the resistance to Trump’s first term in office was a knitted pink hat made to look like cat ears.
From Slate ● Oct. 13, 2026
Indiana Fever player Sophie Cunningham appeared at Missouri’s homecoming game with a hat bearing a slogan that seemed to imply that transgender women are not actually women.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
Unusually for Vance on the campaign trail, he then went down to greet the crowd in person -- shaking hands, patting arms and meeting the lady with the black pro-Vance hat.
From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026
Something in the water flashed at him, and “about half an hour later, Marshall crawled out of the tailrace, cradling his hat to his chest like a hurt child,” exclaiming, “I have found it.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
But it stopped for Tante Jans, brakes squealing, horses nearly falling over one another, and the driver tipped his tall hat as she swept aboard.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
On a rainy Thursday in Broken Bow, buyers clad in cowboy hats, plaid shirts and denim gathered for the regular indoor cattle auction.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
They wore orange jump suits and rubber boots for protection, most sporting hijabs under their hard hats.
From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026
Walters gave him a box filled with handmade items, including piles of mittens, hats, and other items he’d crocheted for children; Collins dropped the box off with a church deacon.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
He loved hats, fedoras at first but then black fisherman beanies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
‘Vive l’armée!’ could be heard everywhere, while people waved handkerchiefs and hats.
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
“My absolute favorite is Ca Com, the banh mi shop from the Anchovy team. They break down whole pigs in their hatted kitchen next door to make the jungle sausage in my favorite order.”
From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2025
I wish we had a better shot of the gloriously hatted cast of “The Gilded Age,” but one must play the hand one is dealt.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 5, 2023
Otherwise he doesn't remember much, "except that she was small, pleated skirt, hatted, didn't say much".
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2022
His shop is offering two versions of Pope Francis molded in mozzarella, one hatted and one without.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 24, 2015
But her hatted hair was beautiful, deep red-brown.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
And all the 35 EA-6B flyers interviewed said they had never heard of anyone flying too low, too fast or doing improper stunts--what Marine pilots call "flat hatting."
From Time Magazine Archive
Officials also point out that another EA-6B squadron in Italy last year apparently videotaped some of its own flat hatting.
From Time Magazine Archive
Who's looked death in the face many a time without hatting an eye.
From Time Magazine Archive
By the 5th of George II. ch. 23d the colonists were prohibited from exporting hats and hatters were limited to a specific number of apprentices—"that hatting may be better encouraged in Great Britain."
From Sages and Heroes of the American Revolution by L. Carroll Judson
I was staying there; I went there upon the occasion of my leaving my house, No. 39, Little Queen-street, Holborn, where I had carried on the hatting business.
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
