Word.ws English Dictionary

at the drop of a hat

at the drop of a hat prepositional phrase: without any hesitation; instantly.

Prepositional phrase

  1. (idiomatic, informal) Without any hesitation; instantly.
    • We're expected to just do it at the drop of a hat.
    • If you need help, just call on Mike. He can come at the drop of a hat.

Examples of at the drop of a hat in a sentence

  • Two keen minds that they are, they took to each other at the drop of a hat.1957 September 5, Jack Kerouac, chapter 1, in On the Road, New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, →OCLC, part 1:
  • We are swollen up like an overfed slug, our breath stinks, the tiniest irritant is magnified ten thousand times, and we cry at the drop of a hat.2014, Becky Rutledge, Miss Becky's Charm School, Citadel Press, →ISBN:

Synonyms of at the drop of a hat

Origin of at the drop of a hat

From the customary starting of competitions by making a sweeping downward motion with a cap.

Questions about at the drop of a hat

What does at the drop of a hat mean?
At the drop of a hat means without any hesitation; instantly.
How do you use at the drop of a hat in a sentence?
Two keen minds that they are, they took to each other at the drop of a hat.
What part of speech is at the drop of a hat?
At the drop of a hat is a prepositional phrase.

Words near at the drop of a hat in the dictionary

  1. at the cost of
  2. at the disposal of
  3. at the door
  4. at the door of
  5. at the double
  6. at the drop of a hat
  7. at the earliest
  8. at the elbow
  9. at the end of one's tether
  10. at the end of the day
  11. at the end of the rainbow

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: at the drop of a hat (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-at the drop of a hat.ogg.

Cite this entry: “at the drop of a hat.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/at_the_drop_of_a_hat. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.