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) 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.