haystack

[ hey-stak ]

/ ˈheɪˌstæk /

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.

Also especially British, hayrick.

Origin of haystack

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

hayrack, hayrick, hayride, hays, hayseed, haystack, hayti, hayward, haywire, haywood, hayworth

Crawled under some haystack, and let the cold and hunger kill me.

Johnny Ludlow, Third Series |Mrs. Henry Wood
It is the difference between looking for a needle in a haystack, and searching for a given paper in a well-arranged cabinet.

The Child and the Curriculum |John Dewey
And I came to a haystack, where I thought I could lie down and keep myself warm all night.

Adam Bede |George Eliot
Here, among the cow-backed hills, he knew he was as safe as a needle in a haystack.

A Texas Ranger |William MacLeod Raine

When I had taken refuge in a haystack, they prodded the haystack with their swords!

Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 102, April 30, 1892 |Various

haystack

/ (ˈheɪˌstæk) /

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

haystack

see needle in a haystack.