Word.ws English Dictionary

making hay while the sun shines

making hay while the sun shines is the present participle and gerund of make hay while the sun shines.

Meaning of make hay while the sun shines

Verb

make hay while the sun shines (third-person singular simple present makes hay while the sun shines, present participle making hay while the sun shines, simple past and past participle made hay while the sun shone)

  1. (idiomatic) To act while an opportunity exists; to take action while a situation is favorable.
    • Near-synonym: grasp the nettle
  2. (literal) To make hay during favourable (dry) weather.

Questions about making hay while the sun shines

What is making hay while the sun shines the present participle and gerund of?
Making hay while the sun shines is the present participle and gerund of make hay while the sun shines.

Words near making hay while the sun shines in the dictionary

  1. making happen
  2. making hard work of
  3. making haste
  4. making haste slowly
  5. making hay
  6. making hay while the sun shines
  7. making head against
  8. making head or tail of
  9. making headway
  10. making heavy going of
  11. making heavy weather

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: making hay while the sun shines (page history and authors); make hay while the sun shines (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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