slumber

[ sluhm-ber ]

verb (used without object)

1. to sleep, especially lightly; doze; drowse.
2. to be in a state of inactivity, negligence, quiescence, or calm:

   Vesuvius is slumbering.

verb (used with object)

1. to spend or pass (time) in slumbering (often followed by away, out, or through ):

   to slumber the afternoon away.

2. to dispel or forget by slumbering (often followed by away ):

   to slumber cares away.

noun

1. Sometimes slumbers. sleep, especially light sleep.
2. a period of sleep, especially light sleep.
3. a state of inactivity, quiescence, etc.

slumber

/ ˈslʌmbə /

verb

1. intr to sleep, esp peacefully
2. intr to be quiescent or dormant
3. trfoll byaway to spend (time) sleeping

noun

1. sometimes plural sleep
2. a dormant or quiescent state

Derived Forms

• ˈslumberer, noun
• ˈslumberless, adjective

Other Words From

• slumber·er noun
• slumber·less adjective
• un·slumber·ing adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of slumber¹

1175–1225; (v.) Middle English slumeren, frequentative of slumen to doze, derivative of Old English slūma sleep ( -er ⁶ ); compare German schlummern; (noun) Middle English slomur, slomber, derivative of the v.

Word History and Origins

Origin of slumber¹

Old English slūma sleep (n); related to Middle High German slummeren, Dutch sluimeren

Example Sentences

With the right app, your phone can keep tabs on your slumber too.

From Popular-Science

ScanWatch by WithingsA smartwatch to help detect sleep apneaObstructive sleep apnea is a disorder in which the muscles that keep our airways open relax during slumber, narrowing or stopping flow and causing periodic gaps in breathing.

From Popular-Science

Scientists have yet to pinpoint the roots of this phenomenon, but some think it occurs when the brain crosses wires between conscious awareness and the dream-filled REM stage of slumber.

From Popular-Science

Brian, my boyfriend, practically leapt from his slumber and bonked his head against the insulated metal ceiling of my minivan, stunned awake.

From Outside Online

What’s more, the liberation of coronavirus strictures will be unevenly distributed, as some regions spring to life and others haltingly come out of slumber.

From Digiday

Paul and McCain do not exactly have a history of slumber parties and hair-braiding.

From The Daily Beast

More than one-quarter of Americans are stealing those precious hours from their slumber, and are paying a steep price for it.

From The Daily Beast

No one had any difficulties sleeping the deep, untroubled slumber of the brave and the just.

From The Daily Beast

That our Post-Puberty Dennis the Menace appears to be lost in such deep slumber seems only understandable.

From The Daily Beast

The way he goes about this vengeance, however, is enough a snooze for you to want to close your own coffin for an eternal slumber.

From The Daily Beast

Finding him awake, he sat by his side and, with the earnestness of a nursery-maid, patted him off to slumber.

From Project Gutenberg

The smile was still on his lips when his head drooped on a piece of ice, and he sank into a deep slumber.

From Project Gutenberg

These instructions were obeyed implicitly, and soon the camp was buried in apparent slumber.

From Project Gutenberg

Yung Pak and the other members of the family also retired, and were soon buried in peaceful slumber.

From Project Gutenberg

He never made any attempt to learn the abstract science of war, and until stirred by danger his character seemed to slumber.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• coma
• dormancy
• stupor