hay

UK: /ˈheɪ/ US: /heɪ/ ,(hā)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

hay /heɪ/   n. [uncountable]

1. Agriculture grass cut and dried for use as food for animals:
   gathering hay from the fields.
2. Slang Terms a small sum of money:
   Twenty bucks for half an hour's work; that ain't hay!

Idioms

3. Idioms make hay, to make use of an opportunity:
   Make hay while the sun shines.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

hay  (hā), n. 

1. Agriculture grass, clover, alfalfa, etc., cut and dried for use as forage.
2. Agriculture grass mowed or intended for mowing.
3. Slang Terms
   • a small sum of money:
     Twenty dollars an hour for doing very little certainly ain't hay.
   • money:
     A thousand dollars for a day's work is a lot of hay!
4. Drugs, Slang Terms [Slang.] marijuana.
5. Slang Terms, Idioms a roll in the hay, sexual intercourse.
6. Slang Terms hit the hay, [Informal.] to go to bed:
   It got to be past midnight before anyone thought of hitting the hay.
7. Idioms in the hay, in bed;
   retired, esp. for the night:
   By ten o'clock he's in the hay.
8. Idioms make hay of, to scatter in disorder;
   render ineffectual:
   The destruction of the manuscript made hay of two years of painstaking labor.
9. Idioms make hay while the sun shines, to seize an opportunity when it presents itself:
   If you want to be a millionaire, you have to make hay while the sun shines.
   Also, make hay. 

v.t. 

10. Agriculture to convert (plant material) into hay.
11. Agriculture to furnish (horses, cows, etc.) with hay.

v.i. 

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

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

hay′ey, adj. 

Hay  (hā), n. 

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

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

hay / heɪ/ noun

1. grass, clover, etc, cut and dried as fodder
2. (in combination): a hayfield, a hayloft
3. hit the hay ⇒ to go to bed
4. make hay of ⇒ to throw into confusion
5. make hay while the sun shines ⇒ to take full advantage of an opportunity
6. roll in the hay ⇒ sexual intercourse or heavy petting

verb

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

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

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

Hay / heɪ/ noun

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