Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - hat

(hats) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. A hat is a head covering, often with a brim round it, which is usually worn out of doors to give protection from the weather. N-COUNT 2. If you say that someone is wearing a particular hat, you mean that they are performing a particular role at that time. If you say that they wear several hats, you mean that they have several roles or jobs. ...putting on my nationalistic hat. ...various problems, including too many people wearing too many hats. N-COUNT: with supp 3. If you say that you are ready to do something at the drop of a hat, you mean that you are willing to do it immediately, without hesitating. India is one part of the world I would go to at the drop of a hat. PHRASE: PHR after v 4. If you tell someone to keep a piece of information under their hat, you are asking them not to tell anyone else about it. Look, if I tell you something, will you promise to keep it under your hat?... PHRASE: V inflects 5. If you say that something or someone is old hat, you mean that they have existed or been known for a long time, and they have become uninteresting and boring. The younger generation tell me that religion is ‘old hat’ and science has proved this. PHRASE: v-link PHR 6. In British English, if you pass the hat around, you collect money from a group of people, for example in order to give someone a present. In American English, you just say pass the hat. Professors are passing the hat to help staff in their department. PHRASE: V inflects 7. If you say that you take your hat off to someone, you mean that you admire them for something that they have done. I take my hat off to Mr Clarke for taking this action... PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n c darkgreen]approval 8. To pull something out of the hat means to do something unexpected which helps you to succeed, often when you are failing. Southampton had somehow managed to pull another Cup victory out of the hat. PHRASE: V inflects 9. In competitions, if you say that the winners will be drawn or picked out of the hat, you mean that they will be chosen randomly, so everyone has an equal chance of winning. The first 10 correct entries drawn out of the hat will win a pair of tickets, worth ?20 each. PHRASE: PHR after v 10. to knock something into a cocked hat: see cocked hat