What does "hat" mean?
A covering for the head, often in the approximate form of a cone, dome or cylinder closed at its top end, and sometimes having a brim and other decoration.
Hat
/hat/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A covering for the head, often in the approximate form of a cone, dome or cylinder closed at its top end, and sometimes having a brim and other decoration.
- Grammar: hat is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: lid, astrakhan, balaclava helmet, balmoral.
- Useful contrasts: bare head, hood, single role.
- Usage evidence: You must take off your hat in the room.
How to use "hat"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "hat" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "hat" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "hat" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "hat" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "hat" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "lid" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "hat", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A covering for the head, often in the approximate form of a cone, dome or cylinder closed at its top end, and sometimes having a brim and other decoration.
"There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls."
- 2 Initialism of highest astronomical tide. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 3 an informal term for a person's role wordnet
- 4 A particular role or capacity that a person might fill. figuratively
"It's all a matter of hats, Minister."
- 5 Initialism of human African trypanosomiasis. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, uncountable
Show 10 more definitions
- 6 headdress that protects the head from bad weather; has shaped crown and usually a brim wordnet
- 7 Any receptacle from which names or numbers are pulled out in a lottery. figuratively
- 8 Initialism of hardware attached on top: a kind of expansion board for the Raspberry Pi computer. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 9 Any receptacle from which names or numbers are pulled out in a lottery.; The lottery or draw itself. broadly, figuratively
"We're both in the hat: let's hope we come up against each other."
- 10 A hat switch.
"The third type of function allows you to check on the state of the joystick's buttons, axes, hats, and balls."
- 11 The circumflex symbol.
- 12 The háček symbol. nonstandard, rare
"I’lll have to leave it up to antiques experts to tell you when objects were marked that way, but I can tell you it’s called a “hacek” (with the hat over the “c” and pronounced “hacheck”.) It is used to show that a “c” is pronounced as “ch” and an “s” as “sh.” Sometimes linguists just call it the “hat.”"
- 13 The caret symbol ^. informal
- 14 User rights on a website, such as the right to edit pages others cannot. Internet
- 15 A student who is also the son of a nobleman (and so allowed to wear a hat instead of a mortarboard). obsolete
"I knew intimately all the 'Hats' in the University, and I was henceforth looked up to by the 'Caps,' as if my head had gained the height of every hat that I knew."
Verb
- 1 To place a hat on. transitive
"After the maids had hatted and gloved the girls, the carriage was summoned and I was carted around one church after another."
- 2 simple past of hit Northern-England, Scotland, form-of, obsolete, past
- 3 put on or wear a hat wordnet
- 4 To appoint as cardinal. transitive
"It was truly a breathtaking rise. From the quiet school, Pope Pius XI had jumped Father Verdier over the heads of innumerable Bishops, made him Archbishop of Paris. Soon he was to be hatted a Prince of the Church and put in charge of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame."
- 5 furnish with a hat wordnet
Show 1 more definition
- 6 To shop for hats. intransitive
"We might just go hatting this afternoon […]"
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"You must take off your hat in the room."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "hat"?
Common synonyms include: lid, astrakhan, balaclava helmet, balmoral, baseball cap, beany.
How do you use "hat" in a sentence?
You must take off your hat in the room.
How do you pronounce "hat"?
Pronounced /hat/.
Etymology
From Middle English hat, from Old English hætt, from Proto-Germanic *hattuz (“hat”), perhaps from a late PIE root Proto-Indo-European *kedʰ- (“to guard, cover, care for, protect”) or wanderwort. Cognate with North Frisian hat (“hat”), Danish hat (“hat”), Swedish hatt (“hat”), Icelandic hattur (“hat”), Finnish hattu (“hat”), Latin cassis (“helmet”), Lithuanian kudas (“bird's crest or tuft”), Avestan 𐬑𐬀𐬊𐬛𐬀 (xaoda, “hat”), Persian خود (xud, “helmet”), Welsh cadw (“to provide for, ensure”). Compare also hood.