pass the hat

1. Ask for financial contributions, as in Let's pass the hat so we can get her a nice going-away gift. This expression alludes to the actual practice of passing a hat around a gathering, but it is also used more figuratively, as in The board decided to pass the hat again among the corporate sponsors. [Late 1800s]

Example Sentences

The former president, who led a vast rollback of environmental protections and safety regulations on the oil and gas industry, invited executives to Mar-a-Lago last month to pass the hat around, per the Washington Post.

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Put the papers in a hat, pass the hat, everyone draws one.

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“My father would load that old piano onto the back of his truck, we’d drive somewhere, unload it, I’d give a show, we’d pass the hat, he’d load it back on again, and we’d go home and see what we’d got,” he said.

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I offer to go door-to-door for donations and pass the hat around the cafeteria.

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Please consider giving money, if you can spare it, to any of these shows that pass the hat or have a QR code for Venmo that either covers the cost of the show or directly goes to the performers.

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Related Words

• award 
• bequeath 
• contribute 
• devote 
• give 
• give away 
• grant 
• hand out 
• present 
• provide