Definition
To run in an election or to nominate oneself for consideration in some other selection process; to nominate someone other than oneself for such consideration.
Origins
From the informal practice of putting ballots into a hat, and then drawing a single ballot from the hat at random to decide the winner. When one put one's own name on a ballot in the hat, one would therefore be eligible to win.
In Context
- "[H]e would not embarrass his friends by running. So they rose up and put his name in the hat—which is exactly what I expected them to do."
- ""Most students now think to themselves: ‘How can I not apply to Yale?’" he said. "You just have to put your name in the hat.""
- ""That's why I decided to put my name in the hat and see if there's a fit here.""
- ""Oh hiiii @AmericanIdol—I hear a seat opened up at the judges table!" she [Jordin Sparks] wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter) in February. "I’m putting my name in the hat! 🙋🏻♀️.""