knock into a cocked hat

Meaning

Verb

Origin

  • A cocked hat is one with the brim turned up to form two or three points (a bicorn or tricorn). The verb may refer:
  • to someone or something being knocked or hit out of shape like such a hat, or a person having a cocked hat forced on to their head; or
  • to a person knocking down all but three pins in a game of ninepins, or to the similar game called “cocked hat” in which only three pins are set up in a triangle, although these may simply be allusions to the shape of a tricorn. It has been pointed out that evidence linking these games to the verb is lacking.

Modern English dictionary

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