hat S1 W3 /hæt/ BrE AmE 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 ↑ drop 2 (5), ⇨ I’ll eat my hat at ↑ eat (8), ⇨ hang up your hat at ↑ hang up (3), ⇨ be talking through your hat at ↑ talk 1 (29)