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The term "hit the hay" means to go to bed. Examples of Use: You look tired. Why don't you hit the hay for a few hours? I'm going to hit the hay early tonight. The idiom "hit the hay" has been used since the early 19th century but was not in common use until the early 20th century (evidence).
hit the hay. Also, hit the sack. Go to bed, as in I usually hit the hay after the eleven o'clock news, or I'm tired, let's hit the sack. The first colloquial expression dates from the early 1900s, the variant from about 1940. See also: hay, hit.
hit the hay/sack. idiom informal. Add to word list. to go to bed in order to sleep: I have a busy day tomorrow, so I think I'll hit the sack. SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases. Animal physiology: sleep & sleeping. altered state of consciousness.
What's the origin of the phrase 'Hit the hay'? The term hay was used in the USA to mean bed since the early 20th century; for example, from People You Know, by the American author George Ade, 1902:
Meaning. to go to sleep or head to bed. Example Sentences. I have to get up early, so I better hit the hay soon. Before you hit the hay, make sure you take the garbage out to the curb. I’m exhausted. I’m going to hit the hay.
hit the hay in American English. informal. to go to bed. It got to be past midnight before anyone thought of hitting the hay. See full dictionary entry for hay. Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019 by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
1. a. : to reach with or as if with a sudden blow. His mom told him to stop hitting his sister. b. : to come in quick forceful contact with. the ball hit the window. He was hit by a car. The tank was hit by enemy fire. c. : to strike (something, such as a ball) with an object (such as a bat, club, or racket) so as to impart or redirect motion.
What Does 'Hit the Hay' Mean? 'Hit the hay' is an idiom, which means it isn't to be interpreted literally (although its literal sense can help us understand the phrase's origins, as we'll learn later). We aren't alluding to doing violence to piles of straw, no; to hit the hay means to go to bed.
See examples of HIT THE HAY used in a sentence.
The idiom hit the hay or hit the sack means to get some much-needed rest or sleep after a period of activity or work. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, hit the hay/sack means “to go to bed in order to sleep.”