Word.ws English Dictionary

roll in the hay

roll in the hay noun: a session of sexual intercourse.

Noun

roll in the hay (plural rolls in the hay)

  1. (euphemistic) A session of sexual intercourse.
    • Don't disturb them. They're having a roll in the hay, I think.
    • The early aubades and tagelieder in particular are just full of noble knights who nonetheless are a rather randy lot and never pass up the chance for a good roll in the hay with an unhappily married noblewoman.2009, Glenn Yeffeth, editor, James Bond in the 21st Century, BenBella Books, Inc., →ISBN
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see roll, in, the, hay.
    • But hay-makers would rather be without one [a rain fall], and if it were wet weather, that gay party of children would not be able to enjoy their roll in the hay. I think they are going to cover that little boy with hay, and then he will jump up and serve them the same. Their gambols do no harm, as...1854, Maria Jacob, “July”, in The Days, Months, and Seasons of the Year, Explained to the Little People of England, Nathaniel Cooke, →OCLC
    • Meta had been the whole morning long in the hayfield. Not the particular hayfield already mentioned; that one was cleared of hay now; but to some other hayfield, whose cocks were in full bloom—if such an expression may be used in regard to hay. There were few things Miss Meta liked so much as a...1863, Mrs. Henry Wood, “Chapter 19”, in The Shadow of Ashlydyat, Macmillan and Company, published 1907, →OCLC, page 307

Examples of roll in the hay in a sentence

  • Our girl needs another employee, a car, and a roll in the hay.2013, Ellery Adams, Peach Pies and Alibis, Penguin, →ISBN, page 9:
  • But hay-makers would rather be without one [a rain fall], and if it were wet weather, that gay party of children would not be able to enjoy their roll in the hay.1854, Maria Jacob, “July”, in The Days, Months, and Seasons of the Year, Explained to the Little People of England, Nathaniel Cooke, →OCLC:
  • There were few things Miss Meta liked so much as a roll in the hay; and, so long as cocks were to be found in the neighbourhood, Margery would be coaxed over to take her to them.1863, Mrs. Henry Wood, “Chapter 19”, in The Shadow of Ashlydyat, Macmillan and Company, published 1907, →OCLC, page 307:

Synonyms of roll in the hay

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Forms of roll in the hay

pluralrolls in the hay

Origin of roll in the hay

In the euphemistic sense, first appears c. 1945 in the US.

Questions about roll in the hay

What does roll in the hay mean?
Roll in the hay means a session of sexual intercourse.
How do you use roll in the hay in a sentence?
Our girl needs another employee, a car, and a roll in the hay.
What part of speech is roll in the hay?
Roll in the hay is a noun.
What is the plural of roll in the hay?
The plural of roll in the hay is rolls in the hay.

Words near roll in the hay in the dictionary

  1. roll in dough
  2. roll in money
  3. roll in one's grave
  4. roll in the aisle
  5. roll in the aisles
  6. roll in the hay
  7. roll in wealth
  8. roll latten
  9. roll mat
  10. roll mats
  11. roll mill

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: roll in the hay (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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-roll in the hay.wav.

Cite this entry: “roll in the hay.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/roll_in_the_hay. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.