hɪt ðə heɪ
General
informal
beginner
- Literally:
- To strike or fall into hay
What does "hit the hay" mean?
- To go to bed
- To go to sleep
Examples
- It's late—I'm going to hit the hay.
- I have an early meeting, so I should hit the hay.
- The kids hit the hay around 8 PM.
Origin
From the days when mattresses were often stuffed with hay or straw. 'Hitting' the hay meant falling into bed. Common since the early 20th century.
How to use it
Casual expression for going to bed. Interchangeable with 'hit the sack.'
Similar expressions
go to bed
go to sleep
turn in
hit the sack
Opposites
stay up
pull an all-nighter
burn the midnight oil
Related idioms
- actions speak louder than words
What people do is more important than what they say
- better safe than sorry
It's better to be careful and prevent problems than to take risks
- so far so good
Things have gone well up to now
- easier said than done
Something is more difficult to do than to talk about
- make a long story short
To summarize or get to the point
- to make matters worse
In addition to existing problems
Use it in a practice answer
Try "hit the hay" in a CELPIP-style Speaking or Writing task. The AI feedback tells you whether your word choice worked.