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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

pull out of the hat en · VERB

Pronunciation

Meanings

  1. (idiomatic) To select at random, or seemingly at random.
    • Having spent more than £500,000 on players last summer, Crawley can hardly be classed as minnows but they have still punched way above their weight and this kind of performance means no-one will relish pulling them out of the hat in Sunday's draw. 2011 January 29, Chris Bevan, “Torquay 0 - 1 Crawley Town”, in BBC:
    • Ever get the feeling that these guys don’t understand what the actual problems are, and instead turn to pulling random bullshit out of a hat to get views? 2026 February 14, @FredrickOrdo [username], X, archived from the original on 17 Feb 2026:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
pulls out of the hat Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
pull out of a hat alternative lexicographic
pulling out of the hat Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
pulled out of the hat Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
pulled out of the hat Tense=Past lexicographic

Synonyms

pull out of the bag