pull out of the hat

present singular third person pulls out of the hat · participle present pulling out of the hat · participle past pulled out of the hat · past pulled out of the hat · alternative pull out of a hat

1. idiomaticTo select at random, or seemingly at random.

   Ever get the feeling that these guys don’t understand what the actual problems are, and instead turn to pulling random bullshit out of a hat to get views?

   2026 February 14, @FredrickOrdo [username], X, archived from the original on 17 Feb 2026

   1 more example

   Having spent more than £500,000 on players last summer, Crawley can hardly be classed as minnows but they have still punched way above their weight and this kind of performance means no-one will relish pulling them out of the hat in Sunday's draw.

   2011 January 29, Chris Bevan, “Torquay 0 - 1 Crawley Town”, in BBC

   Synonyms: pull out of the bag