hat in hand

alternative with hat in hand · alternative cap in hand

1. idiomaticnot comparableWith humility; in an apologetic or self-effacing fashion.

   Hat in hand, the sailors stood deferentially in a semicircle before him.

   1849, Herman Melville, chapter 61, in Redburn: His First Voyage

   3 more examples

   "D'you think the proud English corporations are going to let you inside? Not them. The most you'll get will be the scraps that fall from their table, my poor Lazarus, and for these you'll have to go hat in hand to Dives."

   1915, John Buchan, chapter 5, in Salute to Adventurers

   Turkish leaders are accustomed to visiting Europe with hat in hand, seeking to make compromises.

   2015 October 5, James Kanter, Tim Arango, “Turkish Leader Says E.U. Should Do More About Syria”, in New York Times, retrieved 07 Oct 2015

   But the Americans should also not expect Mr Xi to be arriving hat in hand and eager to please.Many believe mutual suspicion will endure and the two leaders will not likely remove existing trade and economic roadblocks put up in the name of national security.

   2023 November 15, Tessa Wong, “Xi Jinping arrives in US as his Chinese Dream sputters”, in BBC