make hay
Act while favorable
Make hay means to take advantage of favorable conditions while they last.
The full expression is make hay while the sun shines—hay must dry in sunlight before it can be stored, so farmers work quickly during good weather.
The shortened form applies to any opportunity: The team made hay in the first quarter while their opponents struggled.
Supply with sustenance
chaff · livestock · horses · cattle · sheep · nutrition · grazing · legume
feed
Supply with sustenance
straw · chaff · livestock · horses · cattle · sheep · nutrition · grazing · legume · clover
opportunity
Favorable circumstance for advancement
- seizeTake suddenly, forcibly
- momentBrief period of time
- capitalizeMake a letter large
advantage · strike · timing · act · window · chance · hustle · promptness · swift · initiative
harvest
Gathering mature crops
barn · meadow · pasture · alfalfa · timothy · fieldwork · tractor · farmland · windrow · tedder
- farm idiomscream of the crop, put the cart before the horse, till the cows come home, buy the farm, put out to pasture
- Garden Sayingsplant seeds, nip in the bud, bed of roses, harvest time, till the soil
- opportunitygolden opportunity, window of opportunity, opportunity knocks, once in a lifetime, golden chance
- seize todaycarpe diem, seize the day, seize the moment, live for today, present moment
make haywaste time
Use moments unproductively
miss the boat · loaf · idle · slack off · laze about
make haymiss the boat
Fail to seize opportunity
procrastinate · hesitate · dither · drag one's feet · dawdle
make, made, hay, maker, making, remake, makeshift, haystack, remade