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Glite Dictionary
hatful of ideas

hatful of ideas

6.2
A large number of ideas for a project or plan
  • noun
  • Informal
translation icon : un montón de ideas
  • She entered the brainstorming session with a hatful of ideas to share with the team.

Examples

  • After the conference, I left feeling inspired and with a hatful of ideas for my next paper.

  • She came up with a hatful of ideas for the project.

  • Their new manager always brings a hatful of ideas to every project they undertake.

  • Can you believe he has a hatful of ideas for the event?

  • After the conference, I left feeling inspired and with a hatful of ideas for my next paper.

  • She entered the brainstorming session with a hatful of ideas to share with the team.

  • Their new manager always brings a hatful of ideas to every project they undertake.

Synonyms

hatful
vshatful of ideas
  • Informal
1 7.9

A large amount of something you can fit in a hat

focuses on many creative notions rather than general items

Antonyms

at a loss for ideas
5.0

Not able to think of any ideas

How Many

hatful of ideas
  • Informal
6.2

Surface Forms

hatful of ideas singular
hatfuls of ideas plural

Morphology

hatful + of + idea

The meaning follows directly from combining 'hatful' (an amount that fits in a hat) with 'of ideas' — a container/measure + noun pattern that yields 'a large number of ideas'. This compositional, image-based construction is cross-linguistically common and should be inferable by a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.

Etymology

Hatful of ideas gives the picture of a hat so full you can pull out idea after idea, like a magician pulling many tricks. That's why it means 'a large number of ideas'.