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Glite Dictionary
to pull out of the hat

to pull out of the hat

7.4
Produce a surprising idea that solves a difficult problem
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
translation icon : sacar de la chistera
  • Just when the project seemed doomed, Emily pulled out of the hat an innovative idea to save it.

Examples

  • Wow! She pulled out of the hat a solution at the last minute!

  • At the last minute, the coach managed to pull out of the hat a surprising strategy that changed the game.

  • At the last minute, the coach managed to pull out of the hat a new strategy that surprised everyone.

  • Can you really pull out of the hat another solution, or are we out of options?

  • Can you really pull out of the hat an idea that quickly?

  • Just when everyone thought there was no hope, Emily pulled out of the hat an unexpected solution for the project.

  • When faced with a tight deadline, he pulled out of the hat a creative answer that impressed all the stakeholders.

Synonyms

to pull off
vsto pull out of the hat
301 4.1

To manage to do something difficult or unexpected

focuses on producing a surprising result rather than just succeeding
to pull a rabbit out of a hat
vsto pull out of the hat
  • Informal
1 6.7

Find a surprising way to solve a problem at the last moment

is broader, meaning to produce something surprising in hard situations
to bring off
vsto pull out of the hat
1 6.1

To succeed in doing something difficult

emphasizes producing surprise or novelty instead of simply achieving success

Antonyms

to fail
898 1.0

Not succeed in doing something you wanted to do

to disappoint
492 1.0

Fail to do what someone hoped for

How Surprising

to stun
11 3.0
to astonish
13 3.5
to pull out of the hat
  • Informal
7.4
to produce
∞ 2.0
to come up with
∞ 2.7

Surface Forms

pull out of the hat infinitive
pulled out of the hat past
pulled out of the hat past participle
pulling out of the hat present participle
pulls out of the hat third person singular

Morphology

pull + out + of + the + hat

The constituent words literally yield 'to take something out of a hat,' which a learner can parse, but the intended sense of producing a surprising or ingenious solution relies on the cultural metaphor of a magician pulling a rabbit from a hat. This figurative extension requires pragmatic/cultural knowledge and is not strictly predictable from the parts, so it is only partially transparent to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Pull out of the hat comes from magic shows where a magician seems to pull a rabbit out of a hat, a sudden surprise trick. So when someone 'pulls something out of the hat' they produce a quick, 'surprising or unexpected' solution in a difficult situation.