See Also: sleep-out(dictionary)
sleep-in(dictionary)
sleep(1)(dictionary)
sleep(encyclopedia)
REM sleep(dictionary)
Sleep(medicine)
sleep, rem(medicine)
sleep(2)(dictionary)
twilight sleep(medicine)
winter sleep(medicine)

sleep(1) (iou)



sleep noun. [sli:p]

The naturally recurring (esp. nightly) condition of repose and inactivity assumed by people and most higher animals, in which consciousness, response to external stimuli, and voluntary muscular action are largely suspended. Also, the inert condition of a hibernating animal. OE.
I. Murdoch You look tired, are you getting enough sleep?
b. The effects or signs of sleep; spec. a gummy secretion in the corners of the eyes after sleep. Freq. in rub the sleep out of one's eyes & similar phrs. M19.
a. Usu. with specifying word or phr.: the repose of death. Freq. in the last sleep. OE.
A. Mason The dead were raised from their sleep.
b. A state of inactivity or sluggishness. OE.
American Poetry Review Poets..suffering through the sleep of the critical audience.
c. Botany. A condition assumed by many plants, esp. at night, marked by the closing of petals or folding of leaves. M18.
d. Complete absence of noise or bustle; silence. E19.
Wordsworth The sleep that is among the lonely hills.
a. A period or spell of sleep. ME.
P. Angadi After lunch Sam fell into a deep sleep.
b. Among N. American Indians, in measuring distances: the interval of time between one night's rest and the next, a day. L17.
c. A (short) prison term. slang (orig. US). L19.
Phrases: a wink of sleep: see WINK noun1. BEAUTY sleep. get off to sleep: see OFF adverb. go to sleep fall asleep; (of a limb) become numb as a result of prolonged pressure. in one's sleep while sleeping (could do it in one's sleep, could do it without any effort). lay to sleep = put to sleep (b) below. lose sleep over a thing lie awake worrying about a thing (usu. in neg. context). put to sleep (a) kill (a pet animal) painlessly; (b) fig. silence, make inactive, (a feeling). the sleep of the just a deep untroubled sleep. twilight sleep: see TWILIGHT noun & adjective. walk in one's sleep: see WALK verb1.
Comb.: sleep-learning the (alleged) process of learning through exposure to radio broadcasts, tape-recordings, etc., while asleep; sleep mode Electronics a power-saving mode of operation in which (parts of) devices are switched off until needed; sleep movement Botany a nyctinastic movement of a part of a plant, esp. a flower or leaf; sleep paralysis a temporary inability to move immediately on waking; sleep-shorts shorts as an item of nightwear; sleep sofa US a sofa which converts into a bed; sleep-talker a person who speaks in his or her sleep; sleep-talking the action of speaking in one's sleep; sleep-teaching by means of sleep-learning; sleep-waker a mesmerized or hypnotized person; sleep-waking a mesmeric or hypnotic state.