Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plan - Additional Information (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
Sep. 26, 2015	Sep. 27, 2014	Sep. 28, 2013
Deferred Compensation Arrangement with Individual, Postretirement Benefits [Line Items]
Mutual funds	$ 5.6	$ 15.4
Gen-Probe Incorporated [Member]
Deferred Compensation Arrangement with Individual, Postretirement Benefits [Line Items]
Discretionary contribution, net of forfeitures	$ 29.4	35.8
Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plan [Member]
Deferred Compensation Arrangement with Individual, Postretirement Benefits [Line Items]
Maximum employee contributions from base salary, percentage	75.00%
Maximum employee contributions from annual bonus, percentage	100.00%
Employee contributions vested, percentage	100.00%
Contributions, vesting period, years	3 years
Compensation expense for the DCP discretionary contributions	$ 1.8	3.7	$ 2.7
Investment in group life insurance contracts	$ 27.5	$ 22.4

Employee contributions vested, percentage.

No definition available.

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- Definition

The vesting period for discretionary employer contributions, which vest ratably on an annual basis.

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No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Cash surrender value of group life insurance contracts at the balance sheet date.

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No definition available.

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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
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- Definition

Maximum employee contributions from annual bonus percentage to dcp.

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No definition available.

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Data Type:	num:percentItemType
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- Definition

Maximum employee contributions from base salary percentage to dcp.

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No definition available.

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- Definition

Mutual Funds

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No definition available.

+ Details

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Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Nonqualified deferred compensation plan annual contribution.

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No definition available.

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Namespace Prefix:	holx_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the company's liability as of the balance sheet date for its nonqualified deferred compensation plan.

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No definition available.

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Name:	holx_NonqualifiedDeferredCompensationPlanLiability
Namespace Prefix:	holx_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
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- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

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No definition available.

+ Details

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- Details

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- Details

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