/slee"peuhr/ , n.
1. a person or thing that sleeps.
2. a heavy horizontal timber for distributing loads.
3. Building Trades.
a. any long wooden, metal, or stone piece lying horizontally as a sill or footing.
b. any of a number of wooden pieces, laid upon the ground or upon masonry or concrete, to which floorboards are nailed.
4. a sleeping car.
5. Informal. something or someone that becomes unexpectedly successful or important after a period of being unnoticed, ignored, or considered unpromising or a failure: The play was the sleeper of the season.
6. merchandise that is not quickly sold because its value is not immediately recognized.
7. Often, sleepers . one-piece or two-piece pajamas with feet, esp. for children.
8. bunting 3 .
9. a sofa, chair, or other piece of furniture that is designed to open up or unfold into a bed; convertible.
10. Also called sleep, sand . a globule that forms at the inner corner of the eye, esp. during sleep, from the accumulated secretion of the glands of the eyelid.
11. any of several gobioid fishes of the family Eleotridae, of tropical seas, most species of which have the habit of resting quietly on the bottom.
12. Slang. a spy; mole.
13. Slang. a juvenile delinquent sentenced to serve more than nine months.
14. Bowling. a pin that is hidden from view by another pin.
15. Chiefly Brit. a timber or beam laid in a railroad track, serving as a foundation or support for the rails; tie.
[ 1175-1225; ME; see SLEEP, -ER 1 ]