“Hit the post” usually means a shot in football/soccer struck the goalpost and didn’t go in. It can also be used more loosely to mean coming very close to success but missing by a small margin.

In sports

  • A player “hit the post” when the ball hits the upright frame of the goal.
  • It’s a near miss, so it often sounds frustrating or unlucky.

Figurative use

People sometimes use it metaphorically to mean:

  • coming close to a goal,
  • narrowly failing,
  • missing an opportunity by just a little.

Example

  • “She hit the post with her final shot” means she was close to scoring, but the ball struck the post instead of going in.

Small note

In some contexts, “hit the post” can mean different things, but the sports meaning is the most common one.