have a brick in one's hat

verb

To be drunk.

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Meanings

verbhave a brick in one's hat (third-person singular simple present has a brick in one's hat, present participle having a brick in one's hat, simple past and past participle had a brick in one's hat)

present singular third person has a brick in one's hat · participle present having a brick in one's hat · participle past had a brick in one's hat · past had a brick in one's hat

  1. New EnglandidiomaticobsoleteTo be drunk.

    Seated at the same table with our Mr.—, was a gentleman, who, to use the current phrase, ‘had a brick in his hat.’

    1846 November 28, “Magnelia Pedestria; or, Leaves from a Pedestrian’s Note Book”, in The Yale Literary Magazine, volume 12, number 1, page 33

Origin

See brick in one's hat.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

have a brick in one's hat. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/have%20a%20brick%20in%20one's%20hat

MLA

“have a brick in one's hat.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/have%20a%20brick%20in%20one's%20hat. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “have a brick in one's hat,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/have%20a%20brick%20in%20one's%20hat.

Source: have a brick in one's hat on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.