Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to hang one's hat

to hang one's hat

7.0
Make a home and live in a place
  • idiom
translation icon : sentar cabeza
  • After traveling for years, I finally found a city where I can hang my hat and feel at home.

Examples

Synonyms

to settle
vsto hang one's hat
463 2.5

To live in a place, often for a long time

adds the idea of feeling emotionally at home, not only residing
to settle in
vsto hang one's hat
132 3.3

To start to feel comfortable and at home in a new place or job

refers to both making a home and feeling comfortable, beyond just adjusting
to settle into
vsto hang one's hat
41 3.3

Become comfortable in a new place, job, or routine

covers establishing a home and feeling at home, not only gradual adjustment
to feel at home
vsto hang one's hat
41 2.7

Be comfortable and relaxed as if in your own home

adds the idea of establishing oneself and making a home, not just comfort
to put down roots
vsto hang one's hat
  • Informal
8 4.2

To start living in one place for a long time and make it your home

focuses on settling and feeling at home without stressing permanence
to hang up one's hat
vsto hang one's hat
  • Informal
1 7.7

To live in a place and make it your home

emphasizes both establishing residence and feeling emotionally at home

Antonyms

to leave
∞ 1.0

To go away from a place, person, or group

to displace
140 5.5

To make a person leave their usual place or job

How Settled

to put down roots
  • Informal
8 4.2
to settle
463 2.5
to hang one's hat
7.0
to stay
∞ 1.0
to pass through
255 2.7

Surface Forms

hang one's hat infinitive
hanging one's hat present participle
hangs one's hat third person singular
hung one's hat past
hung one's hat past participle

Morphology

hang + one + hat

The literal image of hanging a personal hat in a place gives a sensible clue to staying or making oneself at home, so a learner who knows 'hang' and 'hat' can plausibly infer a related meaning. However, the shift from the physical act to the abstract idea of 'settling/establishing oneself' is a metaphorical extension and not fully predictable without exposure, so comprehension is partial rather than automatic.

Etymology

The idiom hang one's hat comes from the simple act of arriving and putting your hat on a hook to hang it up, showing you planned to stay. So, it means 'to settle' or 'feel at home' in a place.