A.Word.A.Day--hat trick ,
 hat trick (hat trik) noun

   Three consecutive successes in a game or another endeavor. For example,
   taking three wickets with three successive pitches by a bowler in a
   game of cricket, three goals or points won by a player in a game of
   soccer or ice hockey, etc.

[From cricket, from the former practice of awarding a hat to a bowler who
dismissed three batsmen with three successive balls.]

   "Can real estate investment trusts (REITs) pull off a hat trick?
   They delivered an impressive total return of 29% in 2000 and a solid
   11.5% in 2001, a period when the stock market was in a dive and the
   economy was sliding into a recession. Sure, vacancy rates are up and
   rents down, but REIT investors believe they will make money again
   in 2002."
   Michael Arndt, REITs Can Be a Roof Over Your Head, BusinessWeek
   (New York), December 31, 2001.

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Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/hat_trick.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/hat_trick.ram
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