I. ˈslēp noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English slep, slepe, from Old English slǣp; akin to Old High German slāf sleep, Gothic sleps, Old English slǣpan to sleep
1.
a. : the natural usually regular suspension of consciousness during which the powers of the body are restored
b. : the suspension of consciousness caused by an abnormal physical condition or by artificial means
the medium speaking for the first time … out of his mesmeric sleep — W.B.Yeats
2. : a state resembling sleep: as
a. : a state marked by inactivity or lack of awareness : torpor
the depressed fellaheen who likewise are rousing from their centuries of sleep — D.M.Friedenberg
b. : death
c. : a condition in plants that is marked by the closing of leaves or petals especially at night
d. : complete quiet
the sleep that is among the lonely hills — William Wordsworth
e. : a state marked by a diminution of feeling followed by tingling caused by pressure on a part of the body
my foot has gone to sleep
f. : the state of an animal during hibernation
the ground hog's winter sleep
3. : a period of sleep
hoped for late morning sleeps in his new home — Dorothy C. Fisher
4.
a. : night
not ten sleeps have passed since the last of our fighting men returned — Mary Austin
b. : a unit of measurement indicating the distance that can be traversed in a period including a specified number of nights
one of the Indian discoverers … said only that the mine was two sleeps from the post — American Guide Series: Montana
5. : the signs of sleep : sleepiness
eyes heavy with sleep
II. verb
( slept -lept, esp before a consonant -p ; slept ; sleeping ; sleeps )
Etymology: Middle English slepen, from Old English slǣpan; akin to Old High German slāfan to sleep, Gothic slepan, Latin labi to slide, slip, sink, fall, and perhaps to Greek lobos pod of a vegetable, lobe of the ear or other bodily organ; basic meaning: to hang loose
intransitive verb
1. : to rest in a state of sleep : be asleep
is able to relax and always sleeps well — C.B.Palmer b.1910
slept at the club last night
2. : to be in a state resembling sleep: as
a.
(1) : to lack awareness
his judgment could neither sleep nor be softened — W.B.Yeats
specifically : to lack awareness and fail to take advantage (as of one's rights)
the bill would favor claimants who have been sleeping on their rights — U.S.Code
(2) : to lie dormant or inactive
the ancestral idealism … that slept uneasily under the spell of middle-class ambitions — V.L.Parrington
the seasons when nature sleeps in seeds — Alan Devoe
(3) : to remain quiet or motionless
the day, immeasurably long, sleeps over the broad hills — R.W.Emerson
b. : to lie dead
two of them still sleep in an old graveyard — Dana Burnet
c. archaic : to have a diminution of feeling followed by tingling due to pressure on a part of the body
d. : to have the leaves or petals closed especially at night
3. : to have sexual relations
a lovely aristocratic woman who wants to sleep with him — H.C.Webster
must have slept around — A.O.Myrer
4. : to wait until the next day before making a decision — usually used with on
said he would like to sleep on the proposition
5. Scots law : to lie over without being prosecuted for such a period as to become abeyant
transitive verb
1. : to be slumbering in
slept the sleep of the dead
2. archaic : to disregard because of indifference
extraordinary that any body of men … should sleep obedience — Thomas Paine
3. : to get rid of by sleeping — used with off or away
curls up along the base of the stone wall to sleep off his orgy of eating — Doris Cochran
your oversize … berth is an airfoam invitation to sleep away business cares — Wall Street Journal
4. : to spend in sleep — used with away or out
if he is not doped to make him sleep away the hours of travel, he is shivering with fear — S.J.G.Ervine
5. : to bring (oneself) to a specified condition by sleeping
retreated down to his own den … to sleep himself sober — Sir Walter Scott
6. : to provide with a place to sleep
the place sleeps 18 besides the servants — John Selby
Synonyms:
slumber , drowse , doze , nap , snooze : sleep is the general term, applying to periodical repose with lack of consciousness; it lacks the connotations of the following. slumber often applies to a light sleep; the word may sound somewhat literary
the cradle of the slumbering babe — William Wordsworth
drowse may suggest a dull or listless inactivity in which one may drift off to sleep
quaint Spanish towns, with adobe houses and wide squares, sunk in their noonday sleep, — beautiful senoritas drowsing away the afternoon in hammocks — S.B.Leacock
doze , close to drowse , may differ in applying to a deeper degree of sleep or sleepiness
we laughed and dozed, then roused and read again — Vachel Lindsay
As a verb nap often applies to a sleeping or dozing when one should be alert and vigilant
he napped again and when he opened his eyes he knew the sun was shining. He jumped out of bed, wondering about the time — Cortland Fitzsimmons
caught napping
snooze may apply to a pleasant comfortable sleep between times
having nothing to do, read a little Shakespeare and snooze — O.W.Holmes †1935