Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
snap-brim hat

snap-brim hat

1 7.3
A hat with a brim you can turn up or down
  • noun
translation icon : sombrero de ala flexible

Examples

  • Joe pulls down on his snap-brim hat.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • "He had on a camel hair coat and a snap-brim hat, and even though it was night, he was wearing sunglasses.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • As the sun shone brightly, he adjusted his snap-brim hat to shield his eyes.

  • The detective tipped his snap-brim hat to the lady as he walked by.

  • During the parade, many men wore snap-brim hats to complete their stylish outfits.

Surface Forms

snap-brim hat singular
snap-brim hats plural

Morphology

snap-brim + hat

Although 'snap-brim' is not listed in the dictionary entry, a learner who knows 'snap' (to make a quick movement or fastening action) and 'brim' (the edge of a hat) can readily infer a brim that 'snaps' up or down; combined with 'hat' this yields the described meaning. This is a straightforward compound/compound modifier pattern in English and is compositional and cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner knowing the parts should understand it.

Etymology

Snap-brim hat comes from the hat's brim that could be 'snapped' up or down. The word snap shows the quick, sharp move of the brim, so the name now means a hat with a brim you can turn.