sleep
Americanverb (used without object)
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sleeps,
present (3rd person singular)
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slept,
past participle, past
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sleeping
present participle
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to take the rest afforded by a suspension of voluntary bodily functions and the natural suspension, complete or partial, of consciousness; cease being awake.
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Botany. to assume, especially at night, a state similar to the sleep of animals, marked by closing of petals, leaves, etc.
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to be dormant, quiescent, or inactive, as faculties.
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to be careless or unalert; allow one's alertness, vigilance, or attentiveness to lie dormant.
While England slept, Germany prepared for war.
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to lie in death.
They are sleeping in their tombs.
verb (used with object)
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sleeps,
present (3rd person singular)
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slept,
past participle, past
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sleeping
present participle
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to take rest in (a specified kind of sleep).
He slept the sleep of the innocent.
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to accommodate for sleeping; have sleeping accommodations for.
This trailer sleeps three people.
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to spend or pass in sleep (usually followed by away orout ).
to sleep the day away.
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to recover from the effects of (a headache, hangover, etc.) by sleeping (usually followed by off oraway ).
noun
verb phrase
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sleep together to be sexual partners; have a sexual relationship.
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sleep around to have sexual relations with many partners, especially in a casual way; be sexually promiscuous.
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sleep over to spend one or more nights in a place other than one's own home.
Two friends will sleep over this weekend.
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sleep out
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(especially of domestic help) to sleep away from one's place of employment.
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Chiefly Northern U.S. to sleep away from one's home.
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to sleep outdoors.
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sleep on to postpone making a decision about for at least a day.
to sleep on a proposal till the end of the week.
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sleep in
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(especially of domestic help) to sleep where one is employed.
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to sleep beyond one's usual time of arising.
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sleep with to have sexual relations with.
idioms
noun
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a periodic state of physiological rest during which consciousness is suspended and metabolic rate is decreased See also paradoxical sleep
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botany the nontechnical name for nyctitropism
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a period spent sleeping
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a state of quiescence or dormancy
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a poetic or euphemistic word for death
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informal the dried mucoid particles often found in the corners of the eyes after sleeping
verb
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(intr) to be in or as in the state of sleep
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(intr) (of plants) to show nyctitropism
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(intr) to be inactive or quiescent
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(tr) to have sleeping accommodation for (a certain number)
the boat could sleep six
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to pass (time) sleeping
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(intr) to fail to pay attention
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poetic (intr) to be dead
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to give (something) extended consideration, esp overnight
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A natural, reversible state of rest in most vertebrate animals, occurring at regular intervals and necessary for the maintenance of health. During sleep, the eyes usually close, the muscles relax, and responsiveness to external stimuli decreases. Growth and repair of the tissues of the body are thought to occur, and energy is conserved and stored. In humans and certain other animals, sleep occurs in five stages, the first four consisting of non-REM sleep and the last stage consisting of REM sleep. These stages constitute a sleep cycle that repeats itself about five times during a normal episode of sleep. Each cycle is longer that the one preceding it because the length of the REM stage increases with every cycle until waking occurs. Stage I is characterized by drowsiness, Stage II by light sleep, and Stages III and IV by deep sleep. Stages II and III repeat themselves before REM sleep (Stage V), which occurs about 90 minutes after the onset of sleep. During REM sleep, dreams occur, and memory is thought to be organized. In the stages of non-REM sleep, there are no dreams, and brain activity decreases while the body recovers from wakeful activity. The amount and periodicity of sleep in humans vary with age, with infants sleeping frequently for shorter periods, and mature adults sleeping for longer uninterrupted periods.
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See also non-REM sleep REM sleep
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sleepsimple
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sleepssimple
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have sleptperfect
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has sleptperfect
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am sleepingprogressive
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are sleepingprogressive
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is sleepingprogressive
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have been sleepingperfect progressive
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has been sleepingperfect progressive
Past
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sleptsimple
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had sleptperfect
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was sleepingprogressive
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were sleepingprogressive
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had been sleepingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sleep
First recorded before 900; (for the noun) Middle English; Old English slēp (Anglian), slǣp, slāp; cognate with Dutch slaap, German Schlaf, Gothic slēps; (for the verb) Middle English slepen, Old English slēpan, slǣpan, slāpan, cognate with Old Saxon slāpan, Gothic slēpan
Explanation
If you're tired, you probably need to sleep so lie down and close your eyes. When you wake up, you'll feel much better. Everyone needs sleep and most of us get some at least once a day. Maybe that's why sleep is used in so many expressions. If you “sleep on it” you'll wait to make a decision until tomorrow. If you “sleep over,” you stay at someone's place for the night. A person who “lets sleeping dogs lie” knows when not to stir up trouble. If you slip into eternal sleep, you won't be needing any more naps.
Vocabulary lists containing sleep
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Physical exercise, for example, promotes cardiovascular health and blood flow, while sleep plays an important role in memory formation and normal brain maintenance.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 22, 2026
A strange phenomenon occurs whenever a small-market franchise trespasses into a championship round: ordinary people start theatrically fretting about TV ratings and the sleep patterns of corporate executives.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
A representative for Anderson confirmed to The Times that the storied singer-songwriter died in his sleep at his home in Smithville, Tenn., on Wednesday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
That has resulted in a slew of apps and websites -- from the Paris police website to a Pokemon sleep tracker -- going dark as developers work to protect their underlying code from hacks.
From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2026
I didn’t speak of it when Theo told me I cried out in my sleep.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
As soon as it hits 9ish, my son needs a nap, so while he sleeps, Nakano and I go to a little playground, and I just let her run off some of her morning energy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
EEG measurements can reveal much more than how long someone sleeps or how often they wake up.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
The 25-year-old sleeps on a small camping bed in the Honghub office under a poster for “Her,” a 2013 movie about a man falling in love with an AI operating system.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
The pattern persisted until artificial light changed the economics of the night: gas lamps began lighting London's streets in 1807, people stayed up later, the gap between the two sleeps narrowed and eventually closed.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
While the children play ball in the bedroom and Helena sleeps with her doll and I sit with Max on his nights at the window.
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
He says we’re heating rooms nobody uses, and he’s right that nobody has slept in the fourth bedroom since our youngest left 12 years ago.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 24, 2026
Despite becoming a Slovenian hero with the national team, he still slept at the same team hotel, shared meals with his teammates and had no problem wearing the same practice gear, St. Jean said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
Another resident, Sarah Llewelyn, added: "I haven't slept in three days. Friday afternoon lunchtime I opened the door and could smell fumes, it was burning my eyes."
From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026
Awaiting the landfall, we slept upstairs with a life raft, axes and an emergency weather radio, in case we had to escape through the roof.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Father’s bedroom was directly under mine but at seventy-seven he slept soundly.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
"They were sleeping outside and showing signs of malnutrition."
From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026
This gave the researchers repeated opportunities to examine how neural activity and growth hormone regulation changed as the animals moved between sleeping and waking.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2026
According to Teymouri, authorities have video footage of Xuan walking through a room of the kids sleeping in rows and sweeping a flashlight, “like a warden.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026
"Due to my health challenges, there are days where I literally can't feel my legs, they feel like jelly, there's days where I'm completely exhausted after sleeping, I wake up completely shattered."
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
Finally I pulled out my sleeping bag and made a camp of sorts and heated some tea and dozed and drank tea and thought of how it is to be stupid.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
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