haystack

[ hey-stak ]

noun

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.

haystack

/ ˈheɪˌrɪk; ˈheɪˌstæk /

noun

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of haystack¹

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

Idioms and Phrases

see needle in a haystack .

Example Sentences

Finding an endangered shark nursery in a vast ocean is like finding a needle in a haystack.

From Science News

We really need domain experts in all different aspects of clinical care, and the science behind them, to help us find all the needles in haystacks.

From MIT Technology Review

The women hid in haystacks, which the soldiers speared with pitchforks and then set on fire.

From Washington Post

The more people you have working on a problem, the more likely you are to find the needle in the haystack.

From MIT Technology Review

Plus, we figured there’d probably be a few interesting needles in the haystack.

From ProPublica

But that trend also makes this GOTV mission largely needle-in-haystack.

From The Daily Beast

The judges have seemed serious about finding a legitimate hit act in the audition haystack.

From The Daily Beast

Henry laid his brother down and stretched his aching arms, while Jess began to burrow into the haystack.

From Project Gutenberg

They climbed over two stone walls, got across a brook somehow with the heavy child, and arrived at the haystack.

From Project Gutenberg

And the children crept quietly to the noisy little brook not far from the haystack.

From Project Gutenberg

The man and the youth ask to sleep for the night upon a haystack, and stop in friendly talk with Mirèio.

From Project Gutenberg

To look for him in a big city like this will be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

From Project Gutenberg