knocked into a cocked hat
Preserved but no longer current.
In the game of ninepins, three pins were set up in the form of a triangle, and when all the pins except these three were knocked down, the set was tech- nically said to be "knocked into a cocked hat." In modern colloquial usage, to knock someone into a cocked hat is to beat him in a contest of skill, etc.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “knocked into a cocked hat” mean?
In the game of ninepins, three pins were set up in the form of a triangle, and when all the pins except these three were knocked down, the set was tech- nically said to be "knocked into a cocked hat." In modern colloquial usage, to knock someone into a cocked hat is to beat him in a contest of skill, etc.
Is “knocked into a cocked hat” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.