pull a rabbit out of a hat
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
In reference to a popular conjuring trick.
Pronunciation edit
Audio (AU) (file)
Verb edit
pull a rabbit out of a hat (third-person singular simple present pulls a rabbit out of a hat, present participle pulling a rabbit out of a hat, simple past and past participle pulled a rabbit out of a hat)
- (idiomatic) To do something surprising and beneficial that is unexpected.
- 2014 September 8, Michael White, “Roll up, roll up! The Amazing Salmond will show a Scotland you won't believe”, in The Guardian:
- But Salmond the magician's dazzle has not pulled those crucial rabbits out of his hat. Not on tax and spending, on the currency union which he wants (but rUK does not), on Scotland's relations with an EU which does not want this aggro.