Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To sleep.
- intransitive verb To be dormant or quiescent.
- intransitive verb To pass (time) in sleep.
- noun Sleep.
- noun A state of inactivity or dormancy.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To grow sleepy or drowsy; begin to sleep; fall asleep; also, to sleep lightly; doze.
- To sleep; sleep quietly.
- To be in a state of negligence, sloth, supineness, or inactivity.
- Synonyms and 2. Drowse, Doze, etc. See
sleep . - To lay to sleep; cause to slumber or sleep.
- To stun; stupefy.
- To cause to be latent; keep as if in a sleeping condition.
- noun Light sleep; sleep not deep or sound.
- noun Sleep, especially sound sleep.
- noun A sleeping state; sleep regarded as an act.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Sleep; especially, light sleep; sleep that is not deep or sound; repose.
- transitive verb rare To lay to sleep.
- transitive verb obsolete To stun; to stupefy.
- intransitive verb To sleep; especially, to sleep lightly; to doze.
- intransitive verb To be in a state of negligence, sloth, supineness, or inactivity.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A very light state of
sleep , almost awake. - verb intransitive To be in a very light state of sleep, almost awake
- verb intransitive To be inactive
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a dormant or quiescent state
- noun a natural and periodic state of rest during which consciousness of the world is suspended
- verb be asleep
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
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Examples
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Abdullah was a-wearied with watching and wanted to sleep, they also lay beside him on another couch and waited till he wasdrowned in slumber and when they were certified thereof they arose and knelt upon him: whereupon he awoke and seeing them kneeling on his breast, said to them, “What is this, O my brothers?”
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Then he laid his sword under his head-pillow and slept; and when he was drowned in slumber Iblis tempted me to slay him; so I arose in haste, and drawing the sword from under his head, dealt him a blow that made his head fall from his body.
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Waking up at 2: 30 without the power to fall back into slumber is disconcerting.
Archive 2006-10-01 Dave Hingsburger 2006
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Now his mother, for long absence, had forsworn sleep and given herself to mourning and weeping and wailing, till she fell sick and ate no meat, neither took delight in slumber but shed tears night and day.
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Waking up at 2: 30 without the power to fall back into slumber is disconcerting.
There Is A Line Dave Hingsburger 2006
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Daisy's eyes were closed; the knitted brow had smoothed itself out in slumber; the deep breath told how profound was the need that weakness and weariness had made.
Melbourne House 1907
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The result was that one night, about midnight, when the Maharajah had retired and the rest of the palace was wrapped in slumber, the young prince collected a handful of followers, and with his brother
My Three Years in Manipur and Escape from the Recent Mutiny 1891
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But on the opening of the busy week, yes, before we had closed our eyes in slumber on the Sabbath night, still more glorious tidings had come to us, and the joyous messages increased as each day brought us nearer to this day of blessed rest.
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I had not been five minutes in slumber ere the whole amphitheatre was restored to its original perfection, its ruins half rebuilt, its arches, steps, its galleries and vomitories, all complete.
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The curse of spiritual slumber is the just punishment of the sin of it, Rom. xi.
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume V (Matthew to John) 1721
bilby commented on the word slumber
In a quiet water'd land, a land of roses,
Stands Saint Kieran's city fair;
And the warriors of Erin in their famous generations
Slumber there.
There beneath the dewy hillside sleep the noblest
Of the clan of Conn,
Each below his stone with name in branching Ogham
And the sacred knot thereon.
- T. W. Rolleston, 'The Dead at Clonmacnois'.
March 23, 2009