hang one's hat on

hang one's hat on (third-person singular simple present hangs one's hat on, present participle hanging one's hat on, simple past and past participle hung one's hat on)

1. (transitive) To accept or recognize as reliable, tangible, or factual; to depend on.
   • 1998 October 16, Saul Hansell, “Zap, a Nervy Internet Venture, Is Zapped”, in New York Times, retrieved 8 November 2015:

     "You can't hang your hat on a nonbinding letter of intent."

   • 2013 March 26, Jessica Danielle, “Sports Notes”, in Ebony, retrieved 8 November 2015:

     The Nuggets don't have the most dynamic offense nor do they have a real superstar to hang their hat on but their defense is strong.

   • 2015 April 10, Bob McWilliams, “Plain Speaking: GOP field of candidates is diverse”, in Capital Gazette, retrieved 8 November 2015:

     So far, all we've heard is "Don't you want to see a female president." . . . [I]t's easy to see why Clinton has little else to hang her hat on. She has no real achievements to speak of in her term as senator.

• bank on
• hang one's hat
• pin one's hopes on