hat trick
Meanings
noun
- Any magic trick performed with a hat, especially one involving pulling an object (traditionally a rabbit) out of an apparently empty hat.
- 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.
- Three goals scored by one player in a game.
- Three tries scored by one player in a game.
- Three achievements or incidents that occur together, usually within a certain period of time.
- A means of securing a seat in the House of Commons by a Member of Parliament placing their hat upon it during an absence.
Pronunciation
Word forms
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.
Derived words
Translations
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.