throw one's hat in the ring

noun

a shaped covering for the head, usually with a crown and brim, especially for wear outdoors.

Roman Catholic Church.

the distinctive head covering of a cardinal.

the office or dignity of a cardinal. Compare red hat.

verb (used with object)

to provide with a hat; put a hat on.

Idioms

hat in hand, humbly; respectfully: He approached the boss, hat in hand.

pass the hat, to ask for contributions of money, as for charity; take up a collection: The lodge members passed the hat to send underprivileged children to summer camp.

take off one's hat to, to express high regard for; praise: We took off our hats to their courage and daring.

talk through one's hat, to speak without knowing the facts; make unsupported or incorrect statements: He is talking through his hat when he says he'll make the team.

throw/toss one's hat in/into the ring, to become a participant in a contest, especially to declare one's candidacy for political office: His friends are urging him to throw his hat in the ring.

under one's hat, confidential; private; secret: I'll tell you the real story, but keep it under your hat.

10.

wear two/several hats, to function in more than one capacity; fill two or more positions: He wears two hats, serving as the company's comptroller as well as its chief executive officer.

Origin:
before 900; Middle English; Old English hætt; cognate with Old Norse hǫttr hood; akin to hood¹

Related forms

hat·less, adjective

hat·less·ness, noun

hat·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To throw one's hat in the ring

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Throw one's hat in the ring is always a great word to know.

So is bezoar. Does it mean:

the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.

a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

hat (hæt)

—n
1.	a. any of various head coverings, esp one with a brim and a shaped crown
	b. (in combination): hatrack
2.	informal a role or capacity
3.	at the drop of a hat without hesitation or delay
4.	informal I'll eat my hat I will be greatly surprised if (something that proves me wrong) happens: I'll eat my hat if this book comes out late
5.	hat in hand humbly or servilely
6.	keep something under one's hat to keep something secret
7.	informal (Brit) (interjection) my hat
	a. my word! my goodness!
	b. nonsense!
8.	old hat something stale or old-fashioned
9.	out of a hat
	a. as if by magic
	b. at random
10.	pass the hat round, send the hat round to collect money, as for a cause
11.	take off one's hat to to admire or congratulate
12.	talk through one's hat
	a. to talk foolishly
	b. to deceive or bluff
13.	(Irish) throw one's hat at it to give up all hope of getting or achieving something: you can throw your hat at it now
14.	throw one's hat in the ring, toss one's hat in the ring to announce one's intentions to be a candidate or contestant

—vb , hats, hatting, hatted
15.	(tr) to supply (a person, etc) with a hat or put a hat on (someone)

[Old English hætt; related to Old Norse höttr cap, Latin cassis helmet; see hood¹]

'hatless

—*adj*

'hatlike

—*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

hat

O.E. hæt "hat, head covering," from P.Gmc. *khattuz "hood, cowl" (cf. O.N. hattr), from PIE base *kadh- "cover, protect" (cf. Lith. kudas "tuft or crest of a bird," L. cassis "helmet"). Now, "head covering with a more or less horizontal brim." To throw one's hat in the ring was originally (1847)

to take up a challenge in prize-fighting. To eat one's hat was originally To eat Old Rowley's [Charles II's] hat.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

throw (one's) hat in the ring definition

tv.
to indicate that one is to be a contestant or a candidate. : The con claimed he needed parole so he could throw his hat in the ring for the mayoral election.

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Easton

Bible Dictionary

Hat definition

Chald. karb'ela, (Dan. 3:21), properly mantle or pallium. The Revised Version renders it "tunic."

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

throw one's hat in the ring

Also, toss one's hat in the ring. Announce one's candidacy or enter a contest, as in The governor was slow to throw his hat in the ring in the senatorial race. This term comes from boxing, where throwing a hat in the ring formerly indicated a challenge; today the idiom nearly always refers to political candidacy. [c. 1900]

Matching Quote

"... women are supposed to be unfit to vote because they are hysterical and emotional and of course men would not like to have emotion enter into a political campaign. They want to cut out all emotion and so they would like to cut us out. I had heard so much about our emotionalism that I went to the last Democratic national convention, held at Baltimore, to observe the calm repose of the male politicians. I saw some men take a picture of one gentleman whom they wanted elected and it was so big they had to walk sidewise as they carried it forward; they were followed by hundreds of other men screaming and yelling, shouting and singing the "Houn' Dawg".... I saw men jump up on the seats and throw their hats in the air and shout: "What's the matter with Champ Clark?" Then, when those hats came down, other men would kick them back into the air, shouting at the top of their voices: "He's all right!!"... No hysteria about it—just patriotic loyalty, splendid manly devotion to principle. And so they went on and on until 5 o'clock in the morning—the whole night long. I saw men jump up on their seats and jump down again and run around in a ring. I saw two men run towards another man to hug him both at once and they split his coat up the middle of his back and sent him spinning around like a wheel. All this with the perfect poise of the legal male mind in politics! I have been to many women's conventions in my day but I never saw a woman leap up on a chair and take off her bonnet and toss it up in the air and shout: "What's the matter with" somebody. I never saw a woman knock another woman's bonnet off her head as she screamed, "She's all right!".... But we are willing to admit that we are emotional. I have actually seen women stand up and wave their handkerchiefs. I have even seen them take hold of hands and sing, "Blest be the tie that binds." Nobody doubts that women are excitable."

-Anna Howard Shaw

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