Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

make hay while the sun shines

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.41 in modern English

Syllables: make hay while the -sun shines
IPA

48

Scrabble Score

24

Letters

2

Syllables

13

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To act while an opportunity exists; to take action while a situation is favorable.

verb

To make hay during favourable (dry) weather.

Example Sentences

"Near-synonym: grasp the nettle"
"Until the mid-2010s, the ROSCOs 'made hay while the sun shone', taking advantage of growing passenger demand and expanding services to find homes for their rolling assets - in some cases, well beyond their expected design lives."

Etymology

Hay harvest can be spoiled by wet weather. It is important that farmers seize the opportunity of dry weather for haymaking tasks (cutting, drying, gathering), more so in medieval times, when forecasting the weather was more difficult. Attested since 1546, originally a Tudor expression, and used figuratively since 1673.

Inflected Forms

makes hay while the sun shines (present, singular) making hay while the sun shines (participle, present) made hay while the sun shone (participle, past) made hay while the sun shone (past)

Frequently Paired Words

haymaker haymaking

Synonyms

strike while the iron is hot take time by the forelock grasp the nettle

Questions

What does make hay while the sun shines mean?: To act while an opportunity exists; to take action while a situation is favorable.
Where does make hay while the sun shines come from?: Hay harvest can be spoiled by wet weather. It is important that farmers seize the opportunity of dry weather for haymaking tasks (cutting, drying, gathering), more so in medieval times, when forecasting the weather was more difficult. Attested since 1546, originally a Tudor expression, and used figuratively since 1673.

How to pronounce make hay while the sun shines

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “make hay while the sun shines”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “make hay while the sun shines”.
Repeat and practice — Say “make hay while the sun shines” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.