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Hay vs Gay - What's the difference?

hay | gay |

As nouns the difference between hay and gay

is that hay is (uncountable) grass cut and dried for use as animal fodder or hay can be the name of the letter for the h sound in pitman shorthand while gay is nape.

As verbs the difference between hay and gay

is that hay is to cut grasses or herb plants for use as animal fodder while gay is to crow.

hay

English

Etymology 1

(etyl) (m), from (etyl) . More at (l).

Noun

  • (uncountable) Grass cut and dried for use as animal fodder.
  • * Camden
    • Make hay while the sun shines.
  • * C. L. Flint
    • Hay may be dried too much as well as too little.
  • (countable) Any mix of green leafy plants used for fodder.
  • (slang) Cannabis; marijuana.
  • * 1947 , William Burroughs, letter, 19 Feb 1947:
    • I would like some of that hay . Enclose $20.
  • A net set around the haunt of an animal, especially a rabbit.
    • (Rowe)
  • (obsolete) A hedge.
  • (obsolete) A circular country dance.
    • to dance the hay
    Derived terms
    * hay fever * hayloft, hay loft * haystack * hayward * hit the hay * make hay while the sun shines
    External links
    * (wikipedia)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To cut grasses or herb plants for use as animal fodder.
  • To lay snares for rabbits.
    • (Huloet)

    Related terms

    * bale * straw

    References

    Webster's Online Dictionary article on hay

    Etymology 2

    : From the sound it represents, by analogy with other letters such as kay'' and ''gay''. The expected form in English if the ''h'' had survived in the Latin name of the letter "h", ''h? .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The name of the letter for the h sound in Pitman shorthand.
    • Related terms
    * aitch, the name of the Latin letter for this sound

    Anagrams

    * * * ----

    gay

    English

    Proper noun

    (en proper noun)
  • , originally a nickname for a cheerful or lively person.
  • from the word gay, "joyful"; rare today.
  • . Also a shortened form of Gabriel, Gaylord and similar names, or transferred from the surname.
  • * 1992 , Unto the Sons , Ballantine Books 1993, ISBN 0804110336, page 15
    • - - - my father's father, Gaetano Talese ( whose name I inherited after my birth in 1932, in the anglicized from of "Gay "), was an atypically fearless traveler,
  • * 2004 , Bad Dirt , Fourth Estate, ISBN 0007196911, page 32
    • "Mr Gay Brawls. What a name."
    "It didn't use to mean what it means now. Plenty were named Gay'. Even in Nevada. Was old ' Gay Pitch had a gas station in Winnemucca. Nobody thought nothin about it and he raised a railroad car of kids.- - -

    Anagrams

    *