hat
Americannoun
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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:
At the epicenter of the break, Bullwinkle managed to pull a rabbit out of his hat and save himself and Rocky while everything around them was swept away July 17 in West Hollywood.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
“You can come to Vegas and do whatever you want,” said general manager Ryan Growney, wearing a black cowboy hat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Molly, 32, wore a white short-sleeved mini dress with a matching pillbox hat and netted veil for the occassion, while Tom, 26, wore a black suit and tie.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
He drove a big truck, rode a good horse, and removed his hat when he introduced himself.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
“You shouldn’t leave without your hat again,” Mae said.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
I struck out looking for one of those ridiculous horned Viking hats and settled for a green Iraqi trucker cap.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Lamb is virtually guaranteed a victory in November, which means that Congress will indeed have more “cowboy hats and belt buckles.”
From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2026
Mama Margaretha and her atas and their children live together in several traditional houses, which look like tall witches' hats, ranged around her family's tombs.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
In this class, Hello Kitty-emblazoned shirts and tiny Dodgers hats are the highest tennis fashion statements.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
Sometimes I help package things to be sent by mail—homemade mint tooth scrub in little glass jars, knit hats, and things like that.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
“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
Edgar Allan Poe writes children's books: "Still that hatted cat comes calling, Nameless Things with him enthralling Children who, their caution falling, Heed their parents nevermore."
From Washington Post ● Dec. 9, 2021
We watch women leave in Sunday clothes, hatted and lipsticked and white gloved.
From "Brown Girl Dreaming" by Jacqueline Woodson
Who's looked death in the face many a time without hatting an eye.
From Time Magazine Archive
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
A. I let my house, No. 39, Little Queen-street, Holborn, where I had carried on the hatting business, and I went from thence to Donithorne's.
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 Judson, L. Carroll
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
