pull something out of a hat
- pull something out of a hat
pull something out of a hat & pull something out of thin air
1. Lit. [for a magician] to make something, such as a live rabbit, seem to appear by pulling it out of a top hat or out of the air. •
He pulled a rabbit out of a hat and then pulled a chicken out of thin air.
2. Fig. to produce something seemingly out of nowhere. •
Where am I going to get the money? I can't just pull it out of a hat!
•
I don't know where she found the book. She pulled it out of thin air, I guess.
Dictionary of American idioms.
2013.
Look at other dictionaries:
pull sth out of the hat — pull sth/a rabbit out of the hat INFORMAL ► to do something unexpected that improves a difficult situation: »If they want to survive the crisis, they ll need to pull something out of the hat pretty quickly. »The company s in real trouble, and… … Financial and business terms
pull a rabbit out of the hat — pull sth/a rabbit out of the hat INFORMAL ► to do something unexpected that improves a difficult situation: »If they want to survive the crisis, they ll need to pull something out of the hat pretty quickly. »The company s in real trouble, and… … Financial and business terms
pull sth/a rabbit out of the hat — INFORMAL ► to do something unexpected that improves a difficult situation: »If they want to survive the crisis, they ll need to pull something out of the hat pretty quickly. »The company s in real trouble, and they don t seem to have any rabbits… … Financial and business terms
pull a rabbit out of your hat — pull a rabbit out of (your) hat to do something surprising. You didn t know how the story would end and then the author pulled a rabbit out of her hat, and it all made sense. Usage notes: sometimes used to describe a surprising solution to a… … New idioms dictionary
pull a rabbit out of your hat — If you pull a rabbit out of a hat, you do something that no one was expecting … The small dictionary of idiomes
pull a rabbit out of a hat — mainly journalism phrase to do something very clever and unexpected that solves a problem Thesaurus: to successfully deal with a problem or difficultysynonym Main entry: rabbit … Useful english dictionary
pull something rabbit out of the hat — pull sth/a ˌrabbit out of the ˈhat idiom (informal) to suddenly produce sth as a solution to a problem Main entry: ↑pullidiom … Useful english dictionary
pull a rabbit out of the hat — to surprise everyone by suddenly doing something that shows a lot of skill, often in order to solve a problem. He s one of those players who, just when you think the game s over, can pull a rabbit out of the hat … New idioms dictionary
hat — [[t]hæ̱t[/t]] ♦♦♦ hats 1) N COUNT 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. 2) N COUNT: with supp If you say that someone is wearing a particular hat, you mean… … English dictionary
pull a rabbit out of a hat — mainly journalism to do something very clever and unexpected that solves a problem … English dictionary
pull a rabbit out of hat — pull a rabbit out of (your) hat to do something surprising. You didn t know how the story would end and then the author pulled a rabbit out of her hat, and it all made sense. Usage notes: sometimes used to describe a surprising solution to a… … New idioms dictionary
