n. & v.
n. 1 a covering for the head, often with a brim and worn out of doors. 2 colloq. a person's occupation or capacity, esp. one of several (wearing his managerial hat).
v.tr. (hatted, hatting) cover or provide with a hat. hat trick 1 Cricket the taking of three wickets by the same bowler with three successive balls. 2 the scoring of three goals, points, etc. in other sports. keep it under one's hat colloq. keep it secret. out of a hat by random selection. pass the hat round collect contributions of money. take off one's hat to colloq. acknowledge admiration for. throw one's hat in the ring take up a challenge. hatful n. (pl. -fuls). hatless adj.
[ OE htt f. Gmc ]