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Glite Dictionary
to hit pay dirt

to hit pay dirt

8 7.5
To find big success or money after trying hard
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : dar en el clavo
  • Two weeks of chasing every catering truck in the county and I hit pay dirt.
  • finally hit pay dirt
  • just hit pay dirt

Examples

  • She had just hit pay dirt with a camping-themed article and recipes for trail mix with cashews, dried kiwi, and orange-almond biscotti.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • I hit pay dirt when I got a job with a traveling carnival and that's when things got a little weird.

    Joe Dirt (2001)

  • We might hit pay dirt on one of the legal issues.

    Dead Man Walking (1995)

  • I was so excited to open the box when I received it, and when I did, I thought I hit pay dirt!

    Blog text (11)

  • It is so great that many people can try different things to improve themselves, hopefully finding one or a few that really 'hit pay dirt' so easily.

    Blog text (6)

  • They may have hit pay dirt there in the form of advanced germplasm breeding lines also resistant to the new menace.

    Academic text (2004)

  • Jane Stevens, who lives steps from the excavations and proudly flies the Cross of St. George flag, remembers the day Brian hit pay dirt.

    Academic text (2006)

  • After months of hard work, she finally hit pay dirt with her new invention.

  • After searching through countless resumes, the recruiter hit pay dirt when she found the perfect candidate.

  • His persistence in the stock market paid off when he hit pay dirt with a profitable investment.

Synonyms

to pay off
vsto hit pay dirt
229 3.4

Bring a reward after hard work

points specifically to significant success or profit rather than any benefit
to make a fortune
vsto hit pay dirt
54 3.2

To earn a lot of money, often in a short time

is similar but stresses success after effort or searching rather than speed
to hit the jackpot
vsto hit pay dirt
24 4.0

To have a big, unexpected success because of luck

stresses earned profit or success after effort rather than chance
to make it big
vsto hit pay dirt
  • Informal
18 4.1

Become very successful in a job or career

emphasizes gaining tangible profit or reward after effort
to hit a home run
vsto hit pay dirt
  • Informal
17 3.4

To have a big success people do not expect

leans more toward achieving profitable results after active effort
to hit it big
vsto hit pay dirt
  • Informal
9 5.1

To become very successful, often quickly

focuses more on earning profit after effort or searching
to hit the big time
vsto hit pay dirt
  • Informal
7 4.5

To become very successful and famous in your work

highlights achieving profitable results after effort or searching
to hit one out of the ballpark
vsto hit pay dirt
  • Informal
1 7.4

Do much better than expected

focuses more on finding profit or reward after searching or work

Antonyms

to lose
∞ 1.0

Fail to win a game or contest

to fail
898 1.0

Not succeed in doing something you wanted to do

How Successful

to profit
140 3.2
to hit pay dirt
  • Informal
8 7.5
to succeed
846 2.0

Surface Forms

hit pay dirt infinitive
hit pay dirt past
hit pay dirt past participle
hitting pay dirt present participle
hits pay dirt third person singular

Morphology

hit + pay + dirt

The phrase’s meaning (‘achieve significant success or profit’) is idiomatic and derives from a mining metaphor (finding ore) rather than from a straightforward composition of 'hit' + 'pay' + 'dirt'. A B1 learner who knows the individual words is unlikely to predict this sense because 'pay dirt' is not a transparent combination in everyday English and the metaphorical mining sense is language-specific and requires prior exposure.

Etymology

Hit pay dirt may come from mining: a miner would hit the ground and suddenly find rich dirt that would 'pay' them with gold or money. So, it now means 'to achieve big success or profit'.