hit the hay
idiom

- to go to bed in order to sleep

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

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WORD ORIGIN

The idiom “hit the hay” (from around 1912) comes from the practice of using hay-filled mattresses or sleeping directly on hay. Before modern mattresses became common, people (especially farm workers, soldiers, and travellers) would literally sleep on piles of hay or hay-stuffed sacks.

When exhausted workers would collapse onto their hay beds, they would literally "hit" the hay. The word "hit" in this context means to reach, arrive at, or collapse onto something (similar to "hit the road" or "hit the town"). It emphasizes the sudden, decisive action of going to bed.

"Hit the sack" (from the 1940s) has the same meaning and refers to burlap sacks filled with hay or straw and used as mattresses.

The phrase survived and became mainstream American slang by the mid-20th century, long after hay mattresses disappeared. It remains a common, informal way to say "go to bed”.

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SURPRISING FACTS ABOUT SLEEP

- Elephants sleep less than any other animal; just 2-3 hours per day.

- Most people burn about 400 calories during 8 hours of sleep.

- The sleepiest animal is the koala, sleeping up to 22 hours a day.

- Napping between 2–4pm is a natural (per circadian rhythm) way to boost energy.

- Familiar smells can help the brain form memories during sleep.

- Dreams may be one way our brains consolidate memories and process trauma.

- The mind’s capacity for critical reflection — “metacognition” — shuts down almost completely during dreaming, which is why even the strangest scenarios feel plausible in dreams.

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SYNONYMS

bag down, bag some z’s, bag the z’s, bed down, beddy-bye, bedtime, blackout, bunk for the night, call it a day (a night, quits), cash in (my chips), catch forty winks (some shut eye, some z’s), clocking out, conk out, crash, get a good night’s rest, get in the feathers (in the hay, in the sack, my beauty sleep, some kip, some shut-eye/sleep-eye), go beddy-byes, go to dreamland (to snoozeville, to the feather ball, to the roost, going to turn in for the night, have a lie-down (a snooze), hibernate, hit dreamland, HIT THE HAY, hit the pillow (the sack, the snooze button), kip down, log off, nap, off to the land of nod, out like a light, pack it in, retire (for the evening, for the night), sack time, say goodnight, seek repose, shut-eye time, sign off, snoozeville, take a nap (a snooze, forty winks, my leave, some rest, take to one’s bed), throw in the towel for the night, time for forty winks, turn in (for the night), zonk out

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SMUGGLE
 OWAD into a conversation today, say something like:

"It's getting late and we have a long day tomorrow... I suggest we HIT THE HAY!"

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THANKS to Klaus for suggesting today's phrase!

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P L E A S E   S U P P O R T   O W A D