hay

¹

[hey]

noun

1. grass, clover, alfalfa, etc., cut and dried for use as forage.

2. grass mowed or intended for mowing.

3. Slang.

   1. a small sum of money.

      Twenty dollars an hour for doing very little certainly ain't hay.

   2. money.

      A thousand dollars for a day's work is a lot of hay!

4. Slang.,  marijuana.

verb (used with object)

1. to convert (plant material) into hay.

2. to furnish (horses, cows, etc.) with hay.

verb (used without object)

1. to cut grass, clover, or the like, and store for use as forage.

Hay

²

[hey]

noun

1. John Milton, 1838–1905, U.S. statesman and author.

2. a river in NW Canada, flowing NE to the Great Slave Lake. 530 miles (853 km) long.

hay

¹

/ heɪ /

noun

1. 1. grass, clover, etc, cut and dried as fodder

   2. ( in combination )

      a hayfield

      a hayloft

2. slang,  to go to bed

3. to throw into confusion

4. to take full advantage of an opportunity

5. informal,  sexual intercourse or heavy petting

verb

1. to cut, dry, and store (grass, clover, etc) as fodder

2. (tr) to feed with hay

hay

²

/ heɪ /

noun

1. a circular figure in country dancing

2. a former country dance in which the dancers wove in and out of a circle

Hay

³

/ heɪ /

noun

1. Will. 1888–1949, British music-hall comedian, who later starred in films, such as Oh, Mr Porter! (1937)

Other Word Forms

• hayey adjective
• unhayed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of hay¹

before 900; Middle English; Old English hēg; cognate with German Heu, Old Norse hey, Gothic hawi. See hew

Word History and Origins

Origin of hay¹

Old English hieg; related to Old Norse hey, Gothic hawi, Old Frisian hē, Old High German houwi; see _hew

Origin of hay²

C16: of uncertain origin

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. make hay of, to scatter in disorder; render ineffectual.

   The destruction of the manuscript made hay of two years of painstaking labor.

2. make hay while the sun shines, to seize an opportunity when it presents itself: Also make hay.

   If you want to be a millionaire, you have to make hay while the sun shines.

3. in the hay, in bed; retired, especially for the night.

   By ten o'clock he's in the hay.

4. hit the hay, to go to bed.

   It got to be past midnight before anyone thought of hitting the hay.

5. a roll in the hay, sexual intercourse.

see hit the hay; make hay while the sun shines; roll in the hay; that ain't hay.

Example Sentences

Over the last decade, out-of-state companies and investors have drilled deep wells and expanded large-scale farming operations in the desert to grow hay and other crops.

From Los Angeles Times

He showed us the dozens of cows he keeps near his home, and the hay he stores to feed them.

From BBC

Suddenly, it’s no longer a silhouette in the haze but a scarecrow, shrouded in hay, lurching toward me.

From Los Angeles Times

Mr Northmore agreed that their fields have produced less hay too, but the films are just a celebration of the craft.

From BBC

Having a visible tan in Victorian times was a clear sign you were poor working class and probably spent most of your time hawking barrels of hay for very little recompense.

From BBC

Related Words

• fodder 
• grass