hat

noun (C)

1 a piece of clothing that you wear on your head: straw/bowler/woolly etc hat: She wore an enormous flowery hat.

2 keep something under your hat informal to keep something secret

3 be wearing your manager's/teacher's etc hat informal to be doing your duty as a manager etc, which is not your only duty

4 I take my hat off to informal used to say you admire someone very much because of what they have done

5 pass the hat round BrE

/pass the hat (around) AmE to collect money from a group of people, especially in order to buy someone a present

6 bowler-hatted/top-hatted etc wearing a bowler hat, etc

7 my hat! old-fashioned used to express great surprise

—see also: hard hat, at the drop of a hat drop 2 (5), hang up your hat hang 1 (14), I'll eat my hat eat (10), old hat, be talking through your hat talk 1 (17), throw your hat into the ring throw 1 (33)