Definition of "sleep" in English

Verb

1. To rest in a state of reduced consciousness.

   • You should sleep eight hours a day.

2. To have sexual intercourse (see sleep with).

   • Last night we slept together for the first time.

3. To accommodate in beds.

   • This caravan can sleep four people comfortably.

4. To be careless, inattentive, or unconcerned; not to be vigilant; to live thoughtlessly.

5. To be dead.

6. To be, or appear to be, in repose; to be quiet; to be unemployed, unused, or unagitated; to rest; to lie dormant.

   • a question sleeps for the present; the law sleeps

7. To wait for a period of time without performing any action.

   • After a failed connection attempt, the program sleeps for 5 seconds before trying again.

8. To place into a state of hibernation.

9. To spin on its axis with no other perceptible motion.

   • When a top is sleeping, it is spinning but not precessing.

10. To cause (a spinning top or yo-yo) to spin on its axis with no other perceptible motion.

Noun

1. The state of reduced consciousness during which a human or animal rests in a daily rhythm.

   • I really need some sleep.
   • We need to conduct an overnight sleep test to diagnose your sleep problem.

2. An act or instance of sleeping.

   • I’m just going to have a quick sleep.
   • a sound night’s sleep

3. A night.

   • There are only three sleeps till Christmas!

4. Rheum, crusty or gummy discharge found in the corner of the eyes after waking, whether real or a figurative objectification of sleep (in the sense of reduced consciousness).

5. A state of plants, usually at night, when their leaflets approach each other and the flowers close and droop, or are covered by the folded leaves.

6. The hibernation of animals.