Sleep

Pronunciation

• GenAm enPR: slÄ“p, IPA: /sliːp/
• Rhymes: -iːp

Origin

From Middle English sleep, sleepe, from Old English slǣp ("sleep"), from Proto-Germanic *slēpaz ("sleep"), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lāb- ("to hang loosely, be limp, be languid"). Cognate with West Frisian sliep ("sleep"), Saterland Frisian släipe ("sleep"), Low German Slaap ("sleep"), Dutch slaap ("sleep"), German Schlaf ("sleep"), Russian слабый (slábyj, "weak").

The verb is from Middle English slepen, from Old English slǣpan ("to sleep"), from Proto-Germanic *slēpaną ("to sleep"), from the same root as the noun.

Full definition of sleep

Noun

1. (uncountable) The state of reduced consciousness during which a human or animal rests in a daily rhythm.I really need some sleep.We need to conduct an overnight sleep test to diagnose your sleep problem.
2. (countable, informal) An act or instance of sleeping.I’m just going to have a quick sleep.
3. (uncountable) Rheum found in the corner of the eyes after waking, whether real or a figurative objectification of sleep (in the sense of reduced consciousness).Wipe the sleep from your eyes.
4. A state of plants, usually at night, when their leaflets approach each other and the flowers close and droop, or are covered by the folded leaves.
• 1843, Joh Müller, ‎John Bell, Elements of Physiology (page 808)The daily sleep of plants, and their winter sleep, present in this respect exactly similar phenomena...

Synonyms

• (rheum) crusty slang, gound UK dialectal, sleepy dust informal

Derived terms

Verb

1. (intransitive) To rest in a state of reduced consciousness.You should sleep 8 hours a day.
2. (intransitive) (Of a spinning top) to spin on its axis with no other perceptible motion.
• 1854, Anne E. Baker, Glossary of Northamptonshire Words and PhrasesA top sleeps when it moves with such velocity, and spins so smoothly, that its motion is imperceptible.
3. When a top is sleeping, it is spinning but not precessing.
4. (transitive) To accommodate in beds.This caravan can sleep up to four people.
5. (transitive) To be slumbering in (a state).to sleep a dreamless sleep
6. To be careless, inattentive, or unconcerned; not to be vigilant; to live thoughtlessly.
• AtterburyWe sleep over our happiness.
7. To be dead; to lie in the grave.
• Bible, 1 Thessalonians iv. 14Them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
8. To be, or appear to be, in repose; to be quiet; to be unemployed, unused, or unagitated; to rest; to lie dormant.a question sleeps for the present; the law sleeps
• ShakespeareHow sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank!

Derived terms

Troponyms

• (rest in a state of reduced consciousness) nap, doze, snooze

Anagrams

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