Dictionary

haystack en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˈheɪˌstæk/

Etymology

From Middle English haystak, haystake, hey stak, equivalent to hay + stack.

Meanings

1. A mound, pile, or stack of stored hay.
2. (qualifier:canoeing) A standing wave in a rapid.
3. The text string within which another string is searched for. (see: needle in a haystack)
   • Both of these functions will look through the haystack for the specified needle and, if they find it, will return the portion of the string from the beginning of the needle to the end of the haystack. 2010, Peter MacIntyre, PHP: The Good Parts, page 39:
4. (broadly) Any place or collection of items through which one searches for something that is rare and hard to find.
   • But the point of confining the Kansas City gun experiment to the worst parts of the worst neighborhoods was to make the haystack just a little smaller, and to make the inevitable trade-off between fighting crime and harassing innocent people just a little more manageable. 2019, Malcolm Gladwell, Talking to Strangers, page 339:
5. A dish composed of a starchy food (rice, tortillas, crackers, etc.) topped by a protein (beans, cheese, meat, etc.) in combination with fresh vegetables, assembled on the plate by the diner.

Forms

Deriveds

plain as a haystack · Hawaiian haystack · needle in a haystack · needlestack

Synonyms

hayrick (pile of stored hay) · wynd (pile of stored hay)

Translations (88)

sh пласт (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · es almiar (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · de Heuhaufen (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · ba күбә (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · es balagar (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · es pajar (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · kk мая (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · be стог се́на (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · es henazo (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · ast payar (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · hu szénakazal (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · sh stog (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · ru копна́ (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · nn høystakk (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · fo hoysáta (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · sv höstack (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · es niara (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · ko 건초더미 (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · nl hooiberg (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · be стог (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · ca paller (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · hu szénaboglya (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · he ערימת שחת (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · kk шөмеле (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · fo sáta (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · hsb stóh (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · ru стог се́на (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · ja 干し草の山 (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · sk kôpka sena (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · cs stoh (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · pl stóg (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · uk копи́ця (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · es balaguero (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · is heystakkur (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · hy դեզ (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · gl brugueiro (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · it pagliaio (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · de Heuschober (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · da høstak (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · ast payeru (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · es niazo (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · gl medeiro (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · cy tas wair (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · uk стіг (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · fr meule de foin (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · dsb stog (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · ast payera (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · pdt Heihupen (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · lzz ბარდი (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · ce хола (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · fo des (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · an nieda (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · es bálago (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · bg ку́па се́но (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · pt monte de feno (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · sh plast (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · mk пласт (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · izh heinäkeko (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · ru стог (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · ba кәбән (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · tl mandala ng dayami (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · it bica (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · ast balagar (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · ml തുറു (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · cs kupka sena (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · sq mullar (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · tr saman yığını (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · nb høystakk (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · gl palleiro (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · es nial (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · cu стогъ (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · es montonera (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · bg ку́па (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · pt palheiro (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · eo fojnamaso (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · tr tınaz (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · ka ზვინი (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · es borguil (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · fi heinäsuova (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · sl kopica (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · cmn 草垛 (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · be капа́ (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · is hey (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · orv стогъ (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · sh стог (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · uk стіг сі́на (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · pt meda (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay) · mk стог (a mound, pile, or stack of stored hay)