sleep
nounEtymology From Middle English slepe, sleep, sleepe, from Old English slǣp (“sleep”), from Proto-West Germanic *slāp, from Proto-Germanic *slēpaz (“sleep”). Cognates Cognate with Yola slepe (“sleep”), Saterland Frisian Släip (“sleep”), West Frisian sliep (“sleep”), Dutch slaap (“sleep”), German Schlaf (“sleep”), Luxembourgish Schlof (“sleep”), Vilamovian šłȫf, śłöf (“sleep”), Yiddish שלאָף (shlof, “sleep”), Gothic 𐍃𐌻𐌴𐍀𐍃 (slēps, “sleep”).
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.
Informal An act or instance of sleeping.
- I’m just going to have a quick sleep.
- a sound night’s sleep
Informal, Metonymically A night.
- There are only three sleeps till Christmas!
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).
- When she had rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and wept till she was tired, she set out on her way and walked for many, many a day, till she at last came to a big mountain.1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 233:
- But it rings And we rise, Wipe the sleep out of our eyes[…]1980, “Daydream Believer”performed by Anne Murray:
2 more examples
- [...] and draw the medial canthus (aka medial commissure) at the medial extreme. Now draw the lacrimal caruncle at the medial corner of the eye, which produces whitish, oily fluid—it produces “sleep in the eye.”2017, Adam J. Fisch, Neuroanatomy: Draw It to Know It, Oxford University Press, →ISBN:
- The part of the eyelid that is the location of the lacrimal caruncle, which produces rheum or "sleep," the gritty substance often present when awakening.2019, Jahangir Moini, Anatomy and Physiology for Health Professionals, Jones & Bartlett Learning, page 780, entry "Medial canthus"
Biology, Botany, Natural sciences 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.
- The daily sleep of plants, and their winter sleep, present in this respect exactly similar phenomena[…]1843, Joh Müller, John Bell, Elements of Physiology, page 808:
The hibernation of animals.
- Derived terms
117 terms
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