Also used:
hit the sack
hit the bed
Meaning of Idiom ‘Hit the Hay’
To hit the hay means to get into bed and go to sleep.
Usage Notes
The variants hit the hay, hit the sack, and hit the bed are all interchangeable. They do not necessarily mean the same as go to bed, however, since one can ‘go to bed’ without intending to go to sleep immediately. To hit the hay (sack, bed) tends to refer to one’s intention not only to get into bed but to go to sleep immediately.
Sentence Examples
“I’ve got an early morning. I’d better hit the hay.”
“I’m exhausted. I think I’m gonna hit the hay.”
“Time to hit the sack. We all have to be up early in the morning.”
“I hit the bed as soon as I got into the hotel room. I didn’t even bother to unpack.”
“I usually hit the sack by 11 pm.”
Origin
This idiom has been used since at least the 1900s.
Both hay and sack refer to simple beds. Hay may refer to sleeping on an actual stack of hay, as in a hayloft. As well, beds used to be simple sacks filled with hay or other material.