sleeper

[ slee-per ]

noun

1. a person or thing that sleeps.
2. a heavy horizontal timber for distributing loads.
3. Building Trades.
   1. any long wooden, metal, or stone piece lying horizontally as a sill or footing.
   2. 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, especially 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, especially 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 British. a timber or beam laid in a railroad track, serving as a foundation or support for the rails; tie.

sleeper

/ ˈsliːpə /

noun

1. a person, animal, or thing that sleeps
2. a railway sleeping car or compartment
3. one of the blocks supporting the rails on a railway track US and Canadian equivalenttie
4. a heavy timber beam, esp one that is laid horizontally on the ground
5. a small plain gold circle worn in a pierced ear lobe to prevent the hole from closing up
6. a wrestling hold in which a wrestler presses the sides of his opponent's neck, causing him to pass out
7. an unbranded calf
8. Also calledsleeper goby any gobioid fish of the family Eleotridae, of brackish or fresh tropical waters, resembling the gobies but lacking a ventral sucker
9. informal.
   a person or thing that achieves unexpected success after an initial period of obscurity
10. a spy planted in advance for future use, but not currently active

Word History and Origins

Origin of sleeper¹

Middle English word dating back to 1175–1225; sleep, -er ¹

Example Sentences

Aguilar, with the American Principles Project, referred to liberal views on gender as “a sleeper issue that had a great deal of impact with the Hispanic community.”

From Los Angeles Times

Visiting a hostel for rough sleepers in south London, she met some of those who have recently been helped off the streets.

From BBC

They invested pretty heavily in creating sleeper Facebook organizations that posted viral content and then slipped in a bunch of non-true fake news towards the end.

From Salon

The ignorance — yes, we assimilate, and no, we’re not sleeper agents hell-bent on retaking the American Southwest through demographics and enchiladas — mostly amuses me when it doesn’t offend.

From Los Angeles Times

“Job,” which had a much talked-about run last fall off-Broadway at the Soho Playhouse, moved to Broadway’s Helen Hayes Theater this summer and might be the sleeper of the season.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• agent
• detective
• informer
• investigator
• mole
• operative
• secret agent
• secret service
• undercover agent