Dictionary

hat trick en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈhætˌtɹɪk/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
• audio AuE
• hăt′rĭk (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈhæt.ɹɪk/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Exocentric compound of hat (“head covering”, noun) + trick (“element of a magician’s or variety entertainer’s act; entertaining and difficult physical action”, noun). Sense 2 (“achievement of a bowler taking three wickets in three consecutive balls”)—the original sporting sense—refers to the commemorative hat formerly given as a prize to the bowler by his club.

Meanings

1. (qualifier:literal) Any magic trick performed with a hat, especially one involving pulling an object (traditionally a rabbit) out of an apparently empty hat.
2. (broadly) An achievement of a bowler taking three wickets in three consecutive balls. ▸ Three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc., such as three consecutive wins.
   • Ever heard of a Gordie Howe hat trick? It comprises a goal, an assist, and a fighting major penalty.
3. (broadly, ironic, specifically) An achievement of a bowler taking three wickets in three consecutive balls. ▸ Three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc., such as three consecutive wins. ▸ The act of striking out three times in a game.
   • Jones got a hat trick yesterday. Let’s see if he can do better today.
4. (broadly, specifically) An achievement of a bowler taking three wickets in three consecutive balls. ▸ Three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc., such as three consecutive wins. ▸ Three goals scored by one player in a game.
   • In ice hockey, it’s customary for fans to throw their hats on to the rink after a player scores a hat trick.
5. (broadly, specifically) An achievement of a bowler taking three wickets in three consecutive balls. ▸ Three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc., such as three consecutive wins. ▸ Three tries scored by one player in a game.
6. (broadly, qualifier:generally) An achievement of a bowler taking three wickets in three consecutive balls. ▸ Three achievements or incidents that occur together, usually within a certain period of time.
   • Keir Starmer has heralded a “hat-trick of deals” with India, the US and the EU, telling MPs they will protect thousands of jobs and save businesses hundreds of millions of pounds. 2025 May 20, Kiran Stacey, “Keir Starmer says ‘hat-trick of deals’ shows Britain is back on world stage”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
   • In these modern cities, anti-infection measures had to be imposed from the top down, by a central authority. To pull this off, the authority required three things: the ability to identify cases in a timely fashion, and so determine the infection's direction of travel; an understanding of how the disease spread (by water? air? insect vector?), and hence the measures that were likely to block it; and some means of ensuring compliance with those measures. When all three of these ingredients – which we'll describe in more detail in the following sections – were in place, containment could be extremely effective, but a hat-trick was rare. 2017 May, Laura Spinney, “Chalking Doors with Crosses”, in Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: PublicAffairs, published September 2017, →ISBN, part 4 (The Survival Instinct), page 91:
   • The car salesman came home with front-row seats to the weekend game after achieving a hat trick by selling three cars that day.
   • And with the debut of his new series Hyperion Bay in 1998, [Joseph] Dougherty accomplished the rare "hat trick" in television: the pilot was written, executive-produced, and codirected by Dougherty. 2002, Douglas Heil, “From Office Temp to ‘Hat Trick’ Showrunner: Interview with Joseph Dougherty”, in Prime Time Authorship: Works about and by Three TV Dramatists (The Television Series), Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, →ISBN, page 129:
   • Three murders in less than two weeks. That's a hat trick. 2015, Les Roberts, “Milan”, in The Ashtabula Hat Trick (A Milan Jacovich/Kevin O’Bannion Mystery), Cleveland, Oh.: Gray & Company, →ISBN, page 51:
7. (UK, historical, rare) A means of securing a seat in the House of Commons by a Member of Parliament placing their hat upon it during an absence.

Forms

Coordinates

brace · brace · brace · brace

Deriveds

Gordie Howe hat trick

Translations (63)

ro hat-trick (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · fr tour du chapeau (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · nl hattrick (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · pl hat trick (means of securing a seat in the House of Commons by a Member of Parliament placing their hat upon it during an absence) · vi hat-trick (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · uk хет-трик (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · el χατ τρικ (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · hu mesterhármas (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · be хет-трык (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · ca triplet (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · mk хет-трик (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · pl hat trick (three achievements or incidents that occur together, usually within a certain period of time) · pl hat trick (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · fr coup du chapeau (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · fi hattutemppu (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · tr hat trick (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · fo hattrikk (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · th แฮตทริก (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · cmn 帽子戲法 /帽子戏法 (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · kk хет-трик (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · lv hat trick (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · lv hat-trick (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · de Hattrick (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · es hat-trick (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · cy trithro (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · cmn 連中三元 /连中三元 (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · cs hattrick (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · fi hattutemppu (magic trick performed with a hat) · hi हैट्रिक (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · ru хет-трик (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · cy hat-tric (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · ja ハットトリック (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · da hattrick (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · ur ہیٹ ٹرک (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · mr हॅटट्रिक (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · nn hat-trick (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · pt hat-trick (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · ga tréchleas (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · fa هتتریک (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · sk hetrik (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · pl trik z kapeluszem (magic trick performed with a hat) · nb hat-trick (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · gl triplete (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · cy camp lawn (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · sv hat-trick (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · hy հեթ-տրիկ (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · af driekuns (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · pnb ہیٹ ٹرک (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · id trigol (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · fi paikan pitäminen hatulla (means of securing a seat in the House of Commons by a Member of Parliament placing their hat upon it during an absence) · ne ह्याट्रिक (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · ro triplu (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · ml ഹാട്രിക് (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · ko 해트트릭 (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · fi hattutemppu (three achievements or incidents that occur together, usually within a certain period of time) · et kübaratrikk (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · bn হ্যাট্রিক (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · eu hat-trick (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · sv hattrick (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · sl hat-trick (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · ar هاتريك (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · bg хеттрик (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.) · it tripletta (three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.)