I. nap 1 /næp/ BrE AmE noun
[ Sense 1: Date: 1300-1400 ; Origin: ⇨ ↑ nap 2 ]
[ Sense 2: Date: 1400-1500 ; Language: Middle Dutch ; Origin: noppe ]
1 . [countable] a short sleep, especially during the day
have/take a nap
I usually take a nap after lunch.
an afternoon nap
2 . [singular] the soft surface on some cloth and leather, made by brushing the short fine threads or hairs in one direction ⇨ ↑ pile 1 (7)
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COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ have/take a nap
I took a nap after lunch.
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + nap
▪ a short/little nap
A short nap may make you feel better.
▪ a quick/brief nap
I like to have a brief nap in the afternoon.
▪ an afternoon/morning nap
She has her afternoon nap at about two.
▪ a two-hour/twenty minute etc nap
At age four, she was still having a two-hour nap every day.
▪ a power nap (=a short sleep at work, that gives you more energy and concentration)
Try taking a power nap before the meeting.
▪ a catnap (=a very short sleep)
I envied her ability to take catnaps at any time of the day.
■ nap + NOUN
▪ nap time
You can always tell when it's a baby's nap time because they start getting irritable.
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THESAURUS
▪ sleep the natural state of resting your mind and body, when your eyes are closed and you do not notice anything happening around you:
I hardly got any sleep at all last night.
|
He woke suddenly from a deep sleep.
▪ slumber/slumbers literary sleep:
She fell into an uneasy slumber.
|
He awoke from his slumbers.
▪ shut-eye informal especially humorous sleep:
I really need to get some shut-eye.
▪ doze a period in which you sleep lightly, especially when you are not in your bed:
Edward was so tired he fell into a doze on the settee.
▪ snooze informal a short period when you sleep lightly, especially when you are not in your bed:
He decided to have a snooze on the sofa while he was waiting for the others to get ready.
▪ nap a short sleep, especially during the day:
He’s taking a nap.
|
Helen put the baby down for a nap after lunch.
▪ forty winks informal a short sleep, especially during the day:
I’m just going to have forty winks.
|
I felt a lot better after I had had forty winks.
II. nap 2 BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle napped , present participle napping ) [intransitive]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: hnappian ]
1 . be caught napping informal to not be ready to deal with something when it happens, although you should be ready for it:
The German team were caught napping and Lampard scored the winning goal.
2 . to sleep for a short time during the day