Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (orig. US) to increase to a new level; usu. of prices.

1903		‘Hugh McHugh’ Out for the Coin 16: It’s a moral that it goes to 10 before it hits the ceiling.
1964		B. Jackson Get Your Ass in the Water (1974) 93: Then dope hit the ceiling and that’s when you really started feelin’ / You sold your short and pawned your fronts.

2. (orig. US) to become shocked, from surprise or pain.

1942		C.R. Bond 5 Jan. in A Flying Tiger’s Diary (1984) 167: When he pulled off the ring and the burned flesh on my finger, I nearly hit the ceiling.
1989		R. Dahl Rhyme Stew (1990) 17: There came a funny feeling / Of something crawling up my thigh! / I nearly hit the ceiling.

3. (US campus) to fail an examination.

1900		E.H. Babbitt ‘College Words and Phrases’ in DN II:i 41: hit, v. In phrase ‘hit the ceiling,’ To fail in examination or daily recitation.
1908		L.W. Payne Jr ‘Word-List From East Alabama’ in DN III:iv 320: hit the ceiling, v. phr. To fail on examination, fall through.

4. (orig. US, also hit the roof) to explode with temper, to become extremely annoyed.

1914		Living Age Aug. 374: He will [...] ‘get hot warm round the collar,’ and may even ‘hit the ceiling’ [W&F].
1925		(con. WWI) Fraser & Gibbons Soldier and Sailor Words 119: Hitting The Roof: Furious. In a temper.
1927		K. Nicholson Barker II ii: He hit the ceiling.
1934		Wodehouse Right Ho, Jeeves 140: It seemed to me that a mere tithe of what I had said [...] would have made her [...] hit the ceiling.
1950		(con. 1936–46) K.S. Prichard Winged Seeds (1984) 225: Sir Patrick hit the roof when the lawyer informed him that the Misses Gaggin requested him to vacate the rooms.
1951		J.D. Salinger Catcher in the Rye (1958) 13: He was pretty nice about it. I mean he didn’t hit the ceiling or anything.
1953		D. Cusack Caddie 252: I suppose he hit the roof.
1958		E. Dundy Dud Avocado (1960) 183: So then Larry hit the ceiling and said he had to come along.
1963		G. Lambert Inside Daisy Clover (1966) 75: It made me hit the roof and the doctor had to give me a tranquillizer.
1971		J.D. Horan Blue Messiah 69: Every time a kid goes [...] to get working papers Father John hits the ceiling.
1974		(con. 1940s) E. Thompson Tattoo (1977) 101: Aw, it was Grandpa. Told him I’d joined the Navy and he hit the ceiling.
1979		D. Maitland Breaking Out 135: Jesus, did she hit the fuckin’ roof!!
1984		D. James Greenhouse 7: He hit the ceiling. ‘This loony bastard has got to go!’ he bellowed.
1999		K. Sampson Powder 244: The afternoon after the Hanover Grand show, Guy’d hit the roof with them.
2000		Indep. Rev. 15 Mar. 7: I hit the roof.
2002		P.M. Morley Ten Secrets for the Man in the Mirror 9: He hit the ceiling and demanded an itemized invoice.

5. (US drugs) to smoke opium or marijuana.

1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 97/2: Hit the ceiling. [...] 2. To become exhilarated as a result of smoking marijuana.
1953		Anslinger & Tompkins Traffic In Narcotics 310: hit the ceiling. To become exhilarated through smoking opium.