to hang up one's hat
- idiom
- Informal
:
jubilarse
- After thirty years in the industry, she decided to hang up her hat.
Examples
-
She was proud of her accomplishments when she hung up her hat and retired from teaching.
-
Many athletes struggle to decide when to hang up their hat and leave the sport.
-
After thirty years at the company, he finally hung up his hat and began traveling the world.
-
He finally hung up his hat last year!
-
After thirty years at the company, he finally hung up his hat and began traveling the world.
-
She was proud of her accomplishments when she hung up her hat and retired from teaching.
-
Many athletes struggle to decide when to hang up their hat and leave the sport.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To go away from a place, person, or group
788
1.2
To leave a job or position
533
3.7
Leave a job or office by giving notice
148
3.3
Give up an important job so someone else can take over
123
5.1
To stop doing a job, duty or action after someone tells you to
53
4.2
Stop being a leader with official power, for example a government official or company boss
34
3.9
To stop doing something because you cannot continue or feel you have done enough
20
4.9
To stop doing a job or role politely
6
2.5
To stop working at a job because you want something different
To stop working in your job, especially as an athlete
To stop doing an activity, especially to stop playing music for good
Antonyms
How Retired
874
2.0
- Informal
148
3.3
788
1.2
- Informal
34
3.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrasal verb 'hang up' conveys stopping or suspending an activity and 'hat' can be used metaphorically for a role, so a learner who knows the constituents could plausibly infer a sense of 'stop doing a role'. However, the specific convention of using 'hang up one's hat' to mean retire or cease a long-term occupation relies on cultural/idiomatic knowledge, making the interpretation only partially predictable.
Etymology
The idiom hang up one's hat may come from the idea of a worker taking off their hat and leaving it on a peg when they stop working for good. So, 'hanging up' the hat came to mean 'to retire' or 'stop one's regular work'.