ten-gallon hat

English

Alternative forms

• 10-gallon hat

Etymology

Not certain. An earlier form without the number, gallon hat, comes by folk etymology from the Spanish galón (“braid”). It may also be a hyperbolic reference to the size of the hat, or a combination of the two.

Noun

ten-gallon hat (plural ten-gallon hats)

1. A large cowboy hat, not holding ten gallons like the name would suggest but usually around three quarts.

References

• Michael Quinion (2004) “Ten-gallon hat”, in Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books in association with Penguin Books, →ISBN.