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pull out of a hat

pull out of a hat idiom

Produce suddenly and surprisingly, as if by magic. For example, We can't just pull the answers out of a hat. This expression alludes to the magician's trick of pulling some unexpected object out of a hat. That object is often a rabbit, and the expression pull a rabbit out of a hat is often used to mean “get magical results,” as in Much as I would like to be able to pull a rabbit out of a hat, I doubt if I can find further funding for this project.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.