haystack

American  

[hay-stak] / ˈheɪˌstæk /

noun

• haystacks
  plural

1. a stack of hay with a conical or ridged top, built up in the mowed field so as to prevent the accumulation of moisture and promote drying.

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haystack British  

/ ˈheɪˌstæk /

noun

1. a large pile of hay, esp one built in the open air and covered with thatch

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haystack Idioms  

1. see needle in a haystack.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• haystacks
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of haystack

1425–75; late Middle English. See hay, stack

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Explanation

A haystack is a pile or bundle of hay. On farms, after hay has been cut, it's formed into haystacks until being fed to farm animals. Haystacks come in different shapes and sizes, including piles of rectangular blocks of hay; rounded bales; and pointed piles of hay. These haystacks are all packed tightly, and they're often covered to protect them from the rain. You've probably heard the phrase "a needle in a haystack," an idiom that's used when a search is on for some impossibly tiny thing that's lost.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

haystack haystacks

Searching among 950 million trees scattered across mountains and deep valleys was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026

Sam Smith started at barn dances, singing on top of a haystack.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

The point is to be wary of argument by anecdote, since the trading database is a big haystack, and journalists are pattern-seeking animals.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

The best place to hide needles is in a haystack.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 10, 2026

“Your hair looks like a haystack . . . but I like it.”

From "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer

Today, the Art Gallery of Ontario believes it knows who its mystery girl is and who painted her—the art-historical equivalent of finding a needle in myriad haystacks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026

"It's not just one needle in a haystack, but one needle in several haystacks," Singapore's second minister for home affairs, Josephine Teo, told parliament in October last year.

From BBC ● Apr. 12, 2024

"You really are fishing needles out of haystacks."

From Science Daily ● Mar. 20, 2024

Rather than spotting needles in a haystack, Gold said, satellites tend to capture “really big haystacks that are moving very slowly.”

From Science Magazine ● May 31, 2023

“You picked haystacks because finding a rendezvous point’s like finding a needle in a haystack?”

From "City Spies" by James Ponti

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