SLEEP (slept)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: slept   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does sleep mean? 

• SLEEP (noun)
  The noun SLEEP has 4 senses:

1. a natural and periodic state of rest during which consciousness of the world is suspended

2. a torpid state resembling deep sleep

3. a period of time spent sleeping

4. euphemisms for death (based on an analogy between lying in a bed and in a tomb)

  Familiarity information: SLEEP used as a noun is uncommon.

• SLEEP (verb)
  The verb SLEEP has 2 senses:

1. be asleep

2. be able to accommodate for sleeping

  Familiarity information: SLEEP used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SLEEP (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A natural and periodic state of rest during which consciousness of the world is suspended

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

sleep; slumber

Context example:

calm as a child in dreamless slumber

Hypernyms ("sleep" is a kind of...):

physical condition; physiological condition; physiological state (the condition or state of the body or bodily functions)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sleep"):

sleeping (the state of being asleep)

nonrapid eye movement; nonrapid eye movement sleep; NREM; NREM sleep; orthodox sleep (a recurring sleep state during which rapid eye movements do not occur and dreaming does not occur; accounts for about 75% of normal sleep time)

paradoxical sleep; rapid eye movement; rapid eye movement sleep; REM; REM sleep (a recurring sleep state during which dreaming occurs; a state of rapidly shifting eye movements during sleep)

shut-eye; shuteye (informal term for sleep)

Derivation:

sleep (be asleep)

sleepy (ready to fall asleep)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A torpid state resembling deep sleep

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

sleep; sopor

Hypernyms ("sleep" is a kind of...):

physical condition; physiological condition; physiological state (the condition or state of the body or bodily functions)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A period of time spent sleeping

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

nap; sleep

Context example:

there wasn't time for a nap

Hypernyms ("sleep" is a kind of...):

period; period of time; time period (an amount of time)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sleep"):

beauty sleep (sleep before midnight)

kip (sleep)

Derivation:

sleep (be asleep)

sleep (be able to accommodate for sleeping)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Euphemisms for death (based on an analogy between lying in a bed and in a tomb)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

eternal rest; eternal sleep; quietus; rest; sleep

Context example:

they had to put their family pet to sleep

Hypernyms ("sleep" is a kind of...):

death (the absence of life or state of being dead)

• SLEEP (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they sleep    ... he / she / it sleeps   
Past simple: slept   
Past participle: slept   
-ing form: sleeping   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Be asleep

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

catch some Z's; kip; log Z's; sleep; slumber

Hypernyms (to "sleep" is one way to...):

rest (be at rest)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sleep"):

bundle; practice bundling (sleep fully clothed in the same bed with one's betrothed)

catch a wink; catnap; nap (take a siesta)

sleep in; sleep late (sleep later than usual or customary)

hibernate; hole up (sleep during winter)

aestivate; estivate (sleep during summer)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue sleep

Antonym:

wake (be awake, be alert, be there)

Also:

sleep in (sleep later than usual or customary)

sleep in (live in the house where one works)

sleep late (sleep later than usual or customary)

sleep out (work in a house where one does not live)

Derivation:

sleep (a natural and periodic state of rest during which consciousness of the world is suspended)

sleep (a period of time spent sleeping)

sleeper (a rester who is sleeping)

sleeping (the state of being asleep)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be able to accommodate for sleeping

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Context example:

This tent sleeps six people

Hypernyms (to "sleep" is one way to...):

accommodate; admit; hold (have room for; hold without crowding)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

sleep (a period of time spent sleeping)

sleeper (a piece of furniture that can be opened up into a bed)

sleeper (a passenger car that has berths for sleeping)

 Context examples 

Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room and continued a long time traversing my bed-chamber, unable to compose my mind to sleep.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Then she slept again, and the girls waited upon their mother, for she would not unclasp the thin hand which clung to hers even in sleep.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

For a day and a night he remained by the kill, eating and sleeping, turn and turn about.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

“Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out.”

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The world slept, and it was like the sleep of death.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

They lay sleeping under a tree, and snored so that the branches waved up and down.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

They slept that night on the grass, with nothing but the stars over them; and they rested very well indeed.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

The Overactive Bladder Questionnaire Short Form (OAB-q Short Form) Awakened you during sleep?

(OAB-q Short Form - Awakened You During Sleep, NCI Thesaurus)

The Overactive Bladder Questionnaire (OAB-q) Interfered with getting the amount of sleep you needed?

(OAB-q - Interfered with Getting Sleep, NCI Thesaurus)

You are aware, perhaps, that in this house all the servants sleep in the modern wing.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)