Keep it Under your Hat

What it means

Keep something to yourself and do not pass it on to anybody else.

Where it comes from

The story about archers storing spare bowstrings under their hats is invented. The phrase shows up in the 1800s with the plainer sense of keeping something in your head, where nobody else can get at it.

The puzzle it came from

Keep it Under your Hat was the answer to the Phrasicle of October 17, 2025. The clue read ____ it ____ your ____, and the words came out of a grid where every neighbouring pair makes a two-word phrase.

Play today's Phrasicle Play the October 17, 2025 puzzle

Phrases like this one

• At the Drop of a Hat
• Feel Under the Weather
• Keep an Eye Out
• Keep your Cool
• Sweep it Under the Rug