sleep

Verb

1. (intransitive) To rest in a state of reduced consciousness.
2. (euphemistic, idiomatic) To have sexual intercourse (see sleep with).
3. (transitive) To accommodate in beds.
4. (idiomatic, intransitive) To be careless, inattentive, or unconcerned; not to be vigilant; to live thoughtlessly.
5. (euphemistic, idiomatic, intransitive) To be dead.
6. (intransitive) To be, or appear to be, in repose; to be quiet; to be unemployed, unused, or unagitated; to rest; to lie dormant.
7. (intransitive) To wait for a period of time without performing any action.
8. (transitive) To place into a state of hibernation.
9. (intransitive) To spin on its axis with no other perceptible motion.
10. (transitive) To cause (a spinning top or yo-yo) to spin on its axis with no other perceptible motion.

Noun

1. (uncountable) The state of reduced consciousness during which a human or animal rests in a daily rhythm.
2. (countable, informal) An act or instance of sleeping.
3. (countable, informal, metonymically, uncountable) A night.
4. (uncountable) Rheum, crusty or gummy discharge found in the corner of the eyes after waking, whether real or a figurative objectification of sleep (in the sense of reduced consciousness).
5. (countable, uncountable) 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.
6. (countable, uncountable) The hibernation of animals.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/sliːp/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: slepen

Inherited from Old English: slēpan

Inherited from Middle English: slepe

Inherited from Old English: slǣp

In summary

From Middle English slepen, from Anglian Old English slēpan (West Saxon Old English slǣpan), from Proto-West Germanic *slāpan, from Proto-Germanic *slēpaną.

Synonyms

slumber

lie down

be asleep

fall asleep

rest

nap

sleeping

😴

doze

go to sleep

repose

go to bed

kip

snooze

asleep

dream

😴💭

drowse

sleepiness

rheum

drowsiness

lying down

lie

relax

be sleepy

retire

lay down

catnap

sopor

sleep well

drowsy

take a nap

camp

put to sleep

quietus

doss

eternal sleep

eternal rest

log Z’s

roost

catch some Z’s

dozing

sexual intercourse

go to bed: slumber

rest in a state of sleep

beddy-bye

lie down to rest

retiring to rest

sleep lightly

secretion of the eye

sleepy-dust

lay-down, to