pull a rabbit out of a hat
To do something surprising and beneficial that is unexpected.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“He always pulls a rabbit out of a hat when we need help.”
“You really pull a rabbit out of a hat with these last-minute gift ideas.”
“She pulls a rabbit out of a hat every time she fixes my computer.”
“The team was losing until the captain pulled a rabbit out of a hat and scored the winning goal.”
“The chef pulled a rabbit out of a hat by creating a delicious three-course meal using only the few leftover ingredients in the pantry.”
“Even though the flight was fully booked, the travel agent pulled a rabbit out of a hat and found me a seat for the morning trip.”
“Facing a total financial collapse, the manager pulled a rabbit out of a hat by securing a last-minute investment that saved the entire company.”
From the late 19th-century practice of stage magicians, referencing a standard conjuring trick in which a live animal is produced from an ostensibly empty headpiece. The phrase moved from the repertoire of the professional illusionist into general English usage to denote the sudden performance of an improbable or unexpected feat.
- 01
all hat and no cattle
Full of big talk but lacking action, power, or substance; pretentious.
- 02
all hat and no cowboy
Full of big talk but lacking action, power, or substance; pretentious.
- 03
black hat
A villain in a story, especially in a Western (a film or other work of the Western genre).
- 04
brick in one's hat
Drunkenness.
- 05
buy straw hats in winter
Of stocks, to buy when both demand and price are low, so as to sell when demand and price are high.
- 06
does the Pope wear a funny hat
Obviously! Rhetorical question in response to a question where the answer is an emphatic yes.
- 07
eat one's hat
Used in a result clause to express disbelief in a proposition expressed in a conditional clause.
- 08
gravity's pull
Stress or pressure of a situation acting upon a person.
Last updated August 10, 2026