sleepingn.
/ˈsliːpɪŋ/ a. The fact, state, or condition of being asleep; an instance or occasion of this.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > [noun] > action, fact, or state of sleeping or falling asleep
sleeping1362
slumberingc1386
obdormition1634
slumberingness1648
dossing1838
1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. Prol. 10 I slumberde in a slepyng.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 11583 Þar ioseph on his sleping lai.
c1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 57 Wille þou noght folowe þy delyces yn etynge and drynkynge,..ne longe slepynge.
c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1904) I. 91 Þis womman layde hur down..& slepyd, & in hur slepyng sho dyed.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. PPii The visyons..and inspyracions of the holygost, outher in slepyng or wakyng.
1576 A. Fleming tr. Plato in Panoplie Epist. 221 As I say of this, so I say of nightly sleepings taken abusiuely.
1614 B. R. in T. Overbury et al. Wife now Widdow Newes from my Lodging sig. H2v Often sleeping [(4th impr.) sleepings] are so many tryalls to die.
a1625 King James vi & i in S. Hartlib Legacy (1655) 66 That you may better understand their several sicknesses or sleepings.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 314 The Fellow..was between sleeping and waking.
1796 F. Jacson Plain Sense (ed. 2) III. 189 These frequent sleepings, exposed to the open air,..made more substantial cloathing necessary.
1886 E. Gurney et al. Phantasms of Living I. 389 These experiences, which occur on the borderland of sleeping and waking.
b. In transferred or figurative senses.
ΚΠ
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (Bodl.) vii. lvii Þey [that] haue þe stone in þe reynes feleþ in that place tyngling and slepyng for stopping of þe senewe.
1483 Cath. Angl. 344/2 Slepynge in ye lymmes, artesis.
1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII ii. iv. 160 You euer Haue wish'd the sleeping of this busines. View more context for this quotation
1838 W. Bell Dict. Law Scotl. 919 Sleeping of Process. In the..Court of Session, a process..is said to be asleep, when a year and day have elapsed [etc.].
c. With adverbs as around (see sleep v. 1b), out (see sleep v. 1k).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > [noun] > action, fact, or state of sleeping or falling asleep > outdoors
sleeping1852
society > occupation and work > working > [noun] > sleeping away from work
sleeping1976
1852 Rep. Comm. Criminal & Destitute Juveniles App. iii. 427 in Parl. Papers VII. 389 It is his fourth committal; his offence being, ‘sleeping out’.
1945 S. Lewis Cass Timberlane xxiv. 155 Going to be none of this ‘modern civilized, urbane’ sleeping around and getting complicated in our house.
1957 J. Braine Room at Top xxv. 204 I'm glad you've decided to settle down. You're too old for sleeping around.
1973 E.-J. Bahr Nice Neighbourhood xiii. 137 Her mother..did some sleeping around to help make ends meet.
1974 ‘M. Innes’ Appleby's Other Story ix. 73 One very large bush has been curiously hollowed out... The badgers use it as a sleeping-out place.
1976 V. Canning Doomsday Carrier iv. 68 A sleeping-out pass until six tomorrow.
1976 Howard Jrnl. 15 i. 43 It seems wrong to assume..that non-indictable assaults, malicious damage, begging and sleeping out [etc.],..are all associated with social dereliction, homelessness, or disturbed behaviour.
Compounds
C1. With words denoting places used for sleeping in.
sleeping apartment n.
ΚΠ
1825 W. Scott Betrothed Concl., in Tales Crusaders II. 328 Receiving Damian de Lacy into her sleeping apartment.
sleeping-berth n.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > room, locker, or quarters > [noun] > sleeping-quarters
sleeping-berth1834
1834 Chambers's Edinb. Jrnl. 3 316/2 The Calais boats being small, and mounting few sleeping berths.
1939 W. H. Auden & C. Isherwood Journey to War v. 123 The bugs must have been nesting in the upholstery of the shabby old Belgian sleeping-berths.
1979 O. Sela Petrograd Consignment 259 The..relative comfort of a first-class sleeping berth..all the way to Stockholm.
sleeping-box n.
ΚΠ
1847 H. Melville Omoo i Into a wretched ‘bunk’ or sleeping-box.
sleeping-cabin n.
ΚΠ
1833 T. Hook Parson's Daughter III. xi. 285 Here was the governor's sleeping-cabin.
sleeping-car n.
ΚΠ
1839 Mechanics' Mag. 5 Jan. 240 The introduction of the newly-invented sleeping cars on our railroads.
1872 W. F. Butler Great Lone Land iv. 57 One takes a Pullman..as one takes a Hansom, Pullman and sleeping-car have become synonymous terms.
1872 Trans. Dept. Agric. Illinois 23 That the sleeping car for use of the Board be brought on the Grounds.
1903 Mrs. H. Ward Lady Rose's Daughter xviii. 313 I will go and get a sleeping car for you to Calais.
1904 Indian Laws & Treaties III. 36 For traveling expenses..exclusive of transportation and sleeping-car fare.
1954 T. S. Eliot Confidential Clerk i. 32 I shall go and rest now. In a sleeping-car it is quite impossible To get one's quiet hour.
1978 J. Simmons Railway in Eng. & Wales 1830–1914 I. viii. 195 The first sleeping cars in Britain appeared in 1873, on trains running between London and Glasgow.
sleeping-chamber n.
ΚΠ
1814 W. Scott Diary 30 July in J. G. Lockhart Mem. Life Scott (1837) III. iv. 137 Then the kitchen of the people,..then their sleeping-chamber.
sleeping closet n.
ΚΠ
1852 W. M. Thackeray Henry Esmond I. iv. 84 A small chamber where..Harry Esmond [had] his sleeping closet.
sleeping coach n.
ΚΠ
1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 7 Feb. 7/1 The passengers say than an axle first broke under a sleeping coach.
sleeping hole n.
ΚΠ
1656 H. Phillippes Purchasers Pattern (1676) 11 Sleeping holes to defend them from..the weather.
sleeping-house n.
ΚΠ
a1688 G. Stradling Serm. & Disc. (1692) 185 What are Church-yards but κοιμητήρια, Sleeping-houses.
1870 R. W. Emerson Society & Solitude v. 98 An eating-house and sleeping-house for travellers.
sleeping-hut n.
ΚΠ
1869 A. R. Wallace Malay Archipel. II. xxv. 83 The skeleton of his little sleeping-hut remained.
sleeping-place n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > [noun] > place for sleeping
sleeping-place1565
somnifery1600
fleabag1811
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus Dormitorium, a dortour: a sleapynge place.
1688 G. Miege Great French Dict. i. sig. S/3 Dortoir,..the sleeping Place in a Monastery.
1840 Cottager's Man. 35 in Husb. III. (Libr. Useful Knowl.) To keep the pigs dry, a sufficient slope must be given..to the floor of the..sleeping-place.
1910 W. de la Mare Three Mulla-mulgars 52 Let us hobble on, Mulla-mulgars, until we find a quieter sleeping-place.
1957 P. Worsley Trumpet shall Sound viii. 150 Existing huts were to be..replaced by communal houses..one as sleeping-place for the men and one for the women.
sleeping-platform n.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > room > room by type of use > [noun] > bedroom
clevec825
bedchamberc1390
wardrobea1400
kuchiez kotec1400
garderobe?c1450
cubicle1483
pallet chambera1535
bed-place1566
kitchen chamber1573
bedroom1600
cubiculoa1616
lodginga1616
lodging-room1615
bower1674
ruelle1676
lodging-chambera1684
common chamber1684
sleeping-room1699
hall-bedroom1738
berth1806
bunk-room1855
bed-house1881
cubicule1887
bedder1897
bed1926
sleeping-platform1935
roomette1937
single1963
maid-room1992
1935 Discovery Dec. 361/2 Mr E. W. Savory did not actually see any of these apes in the district, but the presence of their sleeping-platforms is proof of their residence there.
1940 R. Finnie Lure of North 199 His original excavation, from which most of the snow blocks needed for the house had been taken, now constituted the floor, and the rest of that space—more than half—was the sleeping platform, a foot or so higher.
sleeping-porch n.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > room > room by type of use > [noun] > bedroom > outside main house
sleeping-porch1915
sleep-out1941
1915 J. Webster Dear Enemy 44 I want two hundred feet of sleeping-porch running along the outside of our dormitories.
1926 Scribner's Mag. Sept. 48/1 (advt.) A Vassar Preparatory School for Girls, 5-acre campus—supervised sports—sleeping porches.
1971 Sunday Express (Johannesburg) 28 Mar. (Homefinder section) 2/2 (advt.) Flats 6 × 2 plus sleeping porch.
sleeping-quarters n.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > room > room by type of use > [noun] > bedroom > dormitory
dortourc1290
dormitory1485
dormer1605
dortory1636
common chamber1684
dorm1900
sleeping-quarters1919
1919 E. O'Neill Moon of Caribbees 117 A door leading to the captain's sleeping quarters.
1944 J. S. Huxley On Living in Revol. 111 Many people have to share crowded sleeping-quarters.
1982 V. Mehta Vedi iii. 52 Mrs. Ras Mohun marched me up to her sleeping quarters.
sleeping-room n.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > room > room by type of use > [noun] > bedroom
clevec825
bedchamberc1390
wardrobea1400
kuchiez kotec1400
garderobe?c1450
cubicle1483
pallet chambera1535
bed-place1566
kitchen chamber1573
bedroom1600
cubiculoa1616
lodginga1616
lodging-room1615
bower1674
ruelle1676
lodging-chambera1684
common chamber1684
sleeping-room1699
hall-bedroom1738
berth1806
bunk-room1855
bed-house1881
cubicule1887
bedder1897
bed1926
sleeping-platform1935
roomette1937
single1963
maid-room1992
1699 A. Boyer Royal Dict. at Dortoir The Sleeping Room in a Monastery.
1789 J. May Let. 1 May (1873) (modernized text) 125 I often find..the air of the sleeping-rooms thick and ropy.
1833 Chambers' Edinb. Jrnl. 5 Jan. 386/1 I..was shown to my sleeping-room by the waiter.
1845 Knickerbocker Mag. 25 506 His handsome hostess conducted him to his sleeping-room.
1887 M. E. Wilkins Humble Romance 221 She never had a fire; one in a sleeping-room would have been sinful luxury.
1903 W. B. Yeats in Fortn. Rev. Apr. 752 Maeve walked through that great hall, and with a sigh Lifted the curtain of her sleeping-room.
1978 Chicago June 135/2 He..leads me into a small sleeping room, which has a cot, a small desk, and a chair.
sleeping wagon n.
ΚΠ
1753 J. Hanway Hist. Acct. Brit. Trade Caspian Sea I. xi. 78 I provided myself with a sleeping waggon, and..took post for St. Petersburg.
C2.
a. With names of articles used for sleeping in, on, or with. Hexham (1648), rendering Dutch combinations in slaep-, has sleeping-bank, -bed, -cap, -coif, -kerchief, etc.
sleeping-bag n.
Π
1852 S. Osborn Stray Leaves from Arctic Jrnl. 147 Friday morning, at seven o'clock, we rolled up our beds, or rather sleeping-bags.
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. xvi. 196 We crawled into our reindeer sleeping-bags.
1933 Discovery Sept. 284/1 We retired to sleep in our sleeping-bags in the tiny room allotted us.
1978 Times 22 Nov. 5/4 She had put him..in his carrycot wrapped in a sleeping bag, romper suit and cardigan.
sleeping-chair n.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > seat > chair > [noun] > chair for reclining in
sleeping-chair1675
reclining chair1827
lounging-chair1841
reclining seat1857
lazy-back-chair1887
recliner1892
lounge-chair1902
power seat1952
incliner1978
1675 in J. Gloag Short Dict. Furnit. (1969) 619 For a sleeping chaire to fall in the back of Iron Worke.
a1877 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. I. 481/2 Car-seats..made reclining, for night travel..are termed ‘sleeping-chairs’.
1924 P. Macquoid & R. Edwards Dict. Eng. Furnit. I. 215 In the Queen's Closet at Ham House are two winged ‘sleeping chairs’..with ratchets to let down the backs.
sleeping-gear n.
ΚΠ
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. viii. 89 We had buffalo-robes for our sleeping-gear.
sleeping-mask n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun] > mask > types of
dough face1806
maskette1881
maskoid1881
sleeping-mask1908
ski-mask1973
1908 S. Ford Side-stepping with Shorty ix. 139 They'd kept his face in a steam box by the hour..made him wear a sleepin' mask, and done everything but peel him alive.
1944 S. Bellow Dangling Man 79 A black cotton sleeping mask hung around her neck.
sleeping-mat n.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > bed > bedding > [noun] > mat used as
sleeping-mat1836
petate1843
bed-mat1931
1836 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz 1st Ser. I. 117 A row of large hooks..on each of which was hung the sleeping-mat of a prisoner.
1965 ‘A. Nicol’ Truly Married Woman 3 He then severely flogged his eldest son..for wetting his sleeping-mat last night.
1979 ‘J. Melville’ Wages of Zen ii. 21 Hanae always folded the sleeping mats up and put them away during the day.
sleeping-sack n.
ΚΠ
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. II. xvi. 168 Two buffalo-robes..forming sleeping-sacks for the occasion.
sleeping-stool n.
ΚΠ
1622 T. Scott Belgicke Pismire 12 Salomon the Preacher..rowseth him vp from that sleeping-stoole of his.
sleeping-suit n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [noun] > for specific purpose > nightwear
night-gear1560
nightclothes1567
nightdress?c1663
bed-apparel1822
nightwear1886
sleeping-suit1897
slumberwear1909
sleep-wear1935
sleepsuit1958
1897 M. L. Hughes Mediterranean Fever v. 178 The sleeping-suit (be it pyjamas or night-dress).
1897 Outing 29 335/2 An elk-skin contrivance, miscalled a ‘sleeping-suit’.
b.
sleeping dictionary n. slang a foreign woman with whom a man has a sexual relationship and from whom he learns her language.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > love affair > [noun] > foreign woman engaged in love affair
sleeping dictionary1928
the mind > language > a language > [noun] > a foreign language > teacher of
language master1672
munshi1782
language teacher1783
sleeping dictionary1928
1928 J. B. Wharton Squad 21 We picked up two beauties... Oo-la-la—I've learned French—out uv a sleepin' dictionary—dat's what dey're called.
1965 Listener 25 Mar. 461/3 He paints the old China of bound feet,..the endless dinners, the mistress (sleeping dictionary) as fragile as a butterfly.
1979 M. Lindsay in C. Allen Tales from Dark Continent i. 14 In East Africa..‘East African officers as a whole maintained a..stricter code in the matter of sleeping with African women’—sometimes referred to as ‘sleeping dictionaries’, from their obvious advantages as language instructors—than did their fellow-officers in West Africa.
C3. In the sense of ‘inducing sleep’, as sleeping cordial, sleeping cup, sleeping-draught, sleeping pill, sleeping powder, sleeping tablet, etc. Cf. sleeping adj. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines for specific purpose > sedatives, antispasmodics, etc. > [noun] > hypnotic > pill
sleeping pill1398
sleeping tablet1398
sleeper1961
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines for specific purpose > sedatives, antispasmodics, etc. > [noun] > hypnotic > powder
sleeping powder1398
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines for specific purpose > sedatives, antispasmodics, etc. > [noun] > hypnotic > drink or draught
sleeping-draught1398
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (Bodl.) xvii. civ Mandragora is a slepinge herbe.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 218 By the meane of a sleapyng poyson or drinke that he gaue to his kepers..he escaped.
1599 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet v. iii. 243 Then gaue I her..A sleeping potion. View more context for this quotation
1664 Lady Hobart Let. 23 Mar. in M. M. Verney Mem. (1899) IV. ii. 53 Thay had no way but to give hur a sleping pell, & she slep all night.
1665 J. Davies tr. A. de Castillo Solórzano La Picara iii. 215 Some sleeping-powders, to be administred to Crispin.
1790 J. Woodforde Diary 17 Sept. (1927) III. 214 Her Child is dead..owing it is supposed to her [having] given him a Sleeping Pill.
1810 G. Crabbe Borough vii. 100 She gave her powerful Sweet without remorse, The sleeping Cordial.
1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe I. vii*. 106 Offer the sleeping cup to this holy man.
1829 W. Scott Anne of Geierstein II. vii. 228 To hand round to the company a sleeping-drink, or pillow-cup.
1838 J. W. Carlyle Lett. I. 97 Any sort of sleeping-draught, which had no opium in it.
c1900 H. A. Jones in M. R. Booth Eng. Plays of 19th Cent. (1969) II. 414 You'll find a sleeping powder in the second drawer... We must manage to give Lionel a little sleep tonight.
1934 G. B. Shaw Too True to be Good i. 42 It must be that new sleeping draught the doctor gave me.
1936 Time 19 Oct. 66/2 It was then that she attempted to find independence in an overdose of sleeping powder.
1938 W. S. Maugham Writer's Notebk. (1949) 300 He feels the moment can never be excelled and so takes an overdose of sleeping-pills.
1941 C. Milburn Diary 4 Oct. (1979) vii. 110 A sleeping tablet last night gave me a good rest.
1973 M. Amis Rachel Papers 30 Dozy afternoons slugging on opiate cough mixtures, sleeping-draughts dropped at noon, stolen handfuls of Valium, a sheet of aspirins before breakfast.
1976 H. Wilson Governance of Brit. iv. 105 I have never had a sleeping pill in No. 10. I have never needed one.
1977 K. O'Hara Ghost of Thomas Penry xv. 148 She'd taken a quadruple dose of sleeping tablets last night.
C4. Denoting morbid states.
sleeping disease n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > stupor or coma > [noun] > morbid sleep
lethargyc1374
sleeping sickness1551
sleeping evil1580
sleeping diseasea1586
lethargicness1633
sopor1675
narcotism1843
hypersomnia1876
narcolepsy1880
narcolepsia1888
the world > plants > disease or injury > [noun] > characterized by part affected or appearance produced
jaundice1600
black rot1769
root rot1831
leaf blight1849
leaf curl1850
black heart1862
icterus1866
albication1877
footrot1883
curl-leaf1886
silver top1890
stem-sickness1890
sleeping disease1899
mosaic1900
leaf mosaic1902
scorch1906
blotch1909
little leaf1911
ringspot1913
crinkle1920
vein banding1928
(b)(a)
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (Bodl.) xvii. iii Floures isode in oile awakeþ ham þat haue..þe slepinge yuel.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) ii. xv. sig. Y7 As I haue seene one that was sick of a sleeping disease, could not be made wake, but with pinching of him.
1899 G. Massee Text-bk. Plant Dis. 328 The disease is indicated by the dull colour of the leaves [of the tomato], which commence to droop; this is quickly followed by a collapse of the stem, hence the name ‘sleeping disease’.
sleeping evil n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > stupor or coma > [noun] > morbid sleep
lethargyc1374
sleeping sickness1551
sleeping evil1580
sleeping diseasea1586
lethargicness1633
sopor1675
narcotism1843
hypersomnia1876
narcolepsy1880
narcolepsia1888
1580 T. Blundeville Foure Offices Horsemanship (rev. ed.) iv. xix Of the Sleeping euill.
1639 T. de Gray Compl. Horseman ii. iv. 69 The Takings, Sleeping-evill, Madnesse, and the like.
C5. In miscellaneous use, as sleeping-halt, sleeping hour, sleeping partner, sleeping posture, sleeping stage, sleeping-tide, sleeping time (also figurative).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual partner > [noun]
sleeping partner?1456
screw1725
sexual partner1847
shack-job1946
shack-up1969
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > [noun] > period of time spent sleeping
sleeping time?1456
the world > time > day and night > night > [noun] > bedtime
bedtimea1250
night lying?1456
sleeping time?1456
sleepy-time1862
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > bed related to sleep or rest > [noun] > condition of being bedfellows > bedfellow
i-beddeOE
beddec1250
bed-ferea1350
sleeping partner?1456
bedfellow1478
bed-mate1582
?1456 H. Windsor in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 145 Writon in my slepyng tyme at after none on Wytsonday.
c1560 Bp. J. Pilkington Godlie Expos. Nehemiah xvi. 21 At noone he must haue his sleeping time.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream iii. ii. 8 While she was in her dull, and sleeping hower. View more context for this quotation
1656 T. Blount Glossographia at Dormant A Lyon..lying in a sleeping posture.
1707 E. Settle Siege of Troy iii. 18 'Tis high sleeping Time, and so let's all home to Bed.
1833 E. B. Barrett Sea-side Meditation in Prometheus & Misc. Poems 96 The close and subtle clasping of a chain..Whose links are furnished from the common mine..From work-times, diet-times, and sleeping-times.
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. II. xxix. 289 At one of our sleeping-halts upon the rocks.
1887 W. Morris tr. Homer Odyssey I. iv. 55 When memory maketh loathly my meat and my sleeping-tide.
1899 G. Massee Text-bk. Plant Dis. 328 Shortly after the sleeping stage has been reached.
1902 J. S. Farmer & W. E. Henley Slang VI. i. 247/1 Sleeping-partner... 2. (common).—A bed-fellow.
1926 G. H. Maines & B. Grant Wise-crack Dict. 14/1 Sleeping time, one year in Jail.
1959 T. S. Eliot Elder Statesman 5 The rhythm that governs the repose of our sleepingtime.
1967 P. D. James Unnatural Causes i. vi. 42 Your sleeping partner would provide you with an alibi.
1979 G. Mitchell Mudflats of Dead xiv. 144 Camilla wasn't the only predator... People are always changing their sleeping partners.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
sleepingadj.
/ˈsliːpɪŋ/ 1.
a. proverbial.c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde iii. 764 It is nought good a slepyng hound to wake.1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. x. sig. Dv It is euill wakyng of the slepyng dog.1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 i. ii. 155 Since all is well, keepe it so, wake not a sleeping wolfe. View more context for this quotation1623 J. Wodroephe Spared Houres Souldier 505/2 Do not awake the sleeping Cat.1824 W. Scott Redgauntlet I. xi. 222 Best to let sleeping dogs lie.1862 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia III. xi. ii. 41 Friedrich is not the man to awaken Parliamentary sleeping-dogs.1886 ‘H. Conway’ Living or Dead xiii Better let sleeping dogs lie.
(a) That is asleep; slumbering. Also absol.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > [adjective] > asleep
sleepingc1374
sleeper1530
slumbered1590
dormant1623
dormient1643
reposing1655
dormitory1797
shut-eye1899
flaked (out)1942
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 21075 And als a slepand aends oft It bers þe pudre vp o-loft.
a1400 Minor Poems from Vernon MS xxiii. 1129 Þe geaunt..Þat wel a-wakeþ þe slepynge Of sleep of deþ so long.
1562 N. Winȝet Certain Tractates (1888) I. 3 Sleuthfull marinaris and sleipand sterismen.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream ii. i. 170 The iewce of it, on sleeping eyeliddes laide. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) ii. ii. 51 The sleeping, and the dead, Are but as Pictures. View more context for this quotation
1645 J. Milton On Christ's Nativity: Hymn xxvii, in Poems 12 Her sleeping Lord with Handmaid Lamp attending.
1775 R. B. Sheridan Songs Duenna i. 1 My sleeping love shall know Who sings.
1812 G. Crabbe Tales xvi. 301 A sleeping boy the Mother held the while.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VII. 260 Group respiration may frequently be seen in sleeping children.
(b) Sleeping Beauty n. (occasionally Sleeping Princess) the heroine of a fairy tale (Charles Perrault's La belle au bois dormant) who slept for a hundred years, until woken by the kiss of her prince; also (sometimes with small initial) applied allusively and jocularly to any sleeping or unconscious person; also attributive and transferred.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > [noun] > one who sleeps or is asleep
slumbererc1380
sleeper1590
Sleeping Beauty1729
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > fiction > [adjective] > specific character
big-endian1726
Sleeping Beauty1729
little-endian1828
Mickey Mouse1930
Sherlock Holmesian1958
Sherlockian1959
Dalek1963
Pooterish1963
Moomin-like1965
hobbitish1966
James Bondish1966
James Bond1967
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > fiction > [noun] > creation or description of characters > specific character or creature
big-endian1726
Sleeping Beauty1729
little-endian1749
small-endian1819
panjandrum1825
shock-headed Peter1848
flopsy bunny1909
Pollyanna1921
Tarzan1921
hobbit1937
orc1937
superman1938
Moomin1950
Dalek1963
1729 R. Samber Perrault's Tales iv. 32 (heading) The sleeping beauty in the wood.
1830 Ld. Tennyson (title) The sleeping beauty.
1893 S. J. Weyman Gentleman of France III. xxviii. 91 The Castle before us..might have been that of the Sleeping Princess, so fairylike it looked.
1907 E. Glyn Three Weeks iv. 64 The Austrians..are naturally awake, whereas you English are naturally asleep, and you yourself are the Sleeping Beauty, Paul.
1909 Mrs. H. Ward Daphne ii. 40 It had been a Sleeping Beauty story so far. Treasure for the winning—a thorn hedge—and slain lovers!
1936 C. Day Lewis Friendly Tree vii. 97 Who could wake the Sleeping Beauty with a kiss of friendship?
1955 E. Bowen World of Love vii. 126 Sleeping-beauty briars..swung at her.
1965 J. Porter Dover Two ii. 26 A rather smudgy photograph of Curdley's Sleeping Beauty lying motionless in her hospital bed.
1967 V. Nabokov Speak, Memory (rev. ed.) vi. 136 The terra-incognita blanks map makers of old used to call ‘sleeping beauties’.
1977 D. Bagley Enemy xxiii. 179 You can go in and wake the sleeping beauties.
1979 A. Price Tomorrow's Ghost ii. 28 You can be our Sleeping Princess in the Library, and I shall come and wake you with a kiss.
b. Occupying a bed or beds in a certain place. sleeping attorney (see quot. 1809).
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabiting temporarily > [adjective] > overnight > occupying bed(s)
sleeping1809
1809 E. A. Kendall Trav. Northern Parts U.S. I. 184 It has been found that a sleeping attorney may be rendered very profitable... His business is to secure a lodging in one of the many-bed-rooms, which at the public inns, happen to be chiefly occupied by a large part of the jury sworn to try the cause.
1876 T. Hardy Hand of Ethelberta I. iv. 50 We've a house full of sleeping company, you understand.
c. Of plants: (see sleep v. 3b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > by age or cycles > [adjective] > of opening or closing or activity or inactivity
sleeping1757
vigilating1759
long-day1850
horologic1882
short-day1920
1757 J. Hill Sleep of Plants 3 In what are called the sleeping plants.
1796 J. G. Stedman Narr. Exped. Surinam II. xxv. 230 The sleeping plant, so called from its leaves..clapping close together from sun-set to sun-rise.
d. In specific names of animals, etc.
ΚΠ
1803 G. Shaw Gen. Zool. IV. 250 Sleeping Gobiomore..: supposed to take its name from the slowness of its movements.
1859 D. Bunce Trav. with Dr. Leichhardt ix. 94 We disturbed many of the short, knobby-tailed sleeping lizard (Agama).
1883 Harper's Mag. Jan. 189/1 The eyes of the sleeping monkey (nyctipithecus).
1897 G. C. Bateman Vivarium 119 The Stump-tailed Lizard (Trachysaurus rugosus), also known as the Two-headed Lizard and the Sleeping Lizard, comes from Australia.
e. Seen in sleep.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > dream > [adjective] > dreaming or that dreams
dreaming1552
swevening1570
somnorine1637
sleeping1781
1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall (1787) III. xxx. 139 The mind of Alaric was ill prepared to receive, either in sleeping or waking visions, the impressions of Greek superstition.
f. sleeping policeman n. a ramp in the road intended to jolt a moving motor vehicle, thereby encouraging motorists to reduce their speed.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > road > parts of road > [noun] > surface > ridge to slow traffic
hump1924
speed breaker1940
rumble strip1957
judder bar1960
sleeping policeman1972
road hump1974
speed hump1974
speed bump1975
1972 Daily Tel. 27 Oct. (Colour Suppl.) 23/3 (caption) ‘Sleeping policeman is a bump under the road surface designed to slow vehicles.
1974 Times 24 July 4/7 The government would proceed with experiments in the use of ‘sleeping policemen’—road humps to slow motorists.
1989 Camping & Walking July 53/2 Access is via a tarmac road with sleeping policemen until reach the pitching fields themselves when it becomes a gravel track.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > [adjective] > causing or inducing sleep
sleepingc1369
sleepy1398
lullingc1440
somnolentc1475
sleepery1513
sleeprife1513
narcotic1526
opiate1543
breed-sleep1582
somnoriferous1583
drowsy1590
dormitive1593
soporiferous1601
somniferous1602
sleep-bringing1605
dormitary1609
hypnotic1625
dormitory1631
papaverous1646
dormant1654
hypnotical1657
somnifyinga1661
sleepifying1662
slumberous1667
soporific1690
somnific1721
somniculous1820
somnorific1865
soporous1866
drowsing1881
narcoleptic1984
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Solanaceae (nightshade and allies) > [noun]
morela1400
nightshadea1400
petty morel?a1425
hound's-berryc1485
micklewort1531
manicon1543
garden nightshade1576
dulcamara1578
mad nightshade1578
raging nightshade1578
sleeping nightshade1578
solanum1578
tree nightshade1597
black nightshade1607
moonshade1626
mumme tree1629
winter cherry1629
blue bindweeda1637
canker berry1651
shrub-nightshade1666
poison berry1672
nightshade1733
woody nightshade1796
Sodom apple1808
African nightshade1839
solanal1846
felon-wood1861
shoo-fly plant1949
the world > plants > particular plants > plants perceived as weeds or harmful plants > poisonous or harmful plants > poisonous bush or tree > [noun] > deadly nightshade
nightshadeOE
dwale14..
garden nightshade1576
deadly nightshade1578
sleeping nightshade1578
belladonna1597
death's herb1598
sleepy nightshade1611
banewort1861
c1369 G. Chaucer Bk. Duchesse 162 A few wellys..That made a dedly slepynge soun.
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball 447 One is called Solanum somniferum, that is to say Sleeping Night~shade.
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 269 Dwale or sleeping Nightshade hath round blackish stalks sixe foote high.
3. Numb: devoid of sensation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > physical insensibility > [adjective]
unfeelingc1000
dead?c1225
unwitlessc1225
insensiblec1400
unfeelablec1400
unfredeablec1450
insensate?1520
blatea1522
deaf?1527
unsensible1531
inanimatea1555
senseless1557
unsensate1561
sleeping1562
insensitive1610
unsensitive1610
torpid1613
inanimated1646
torpent1647
unperceptive1668
feelless1684
insentient1764
unsentient1768
sensationless1824
apathic1835
non-sensitive1836
zombie-like1932
zombie-esque1946
zomboid1963
zombied1972
1562 W. Turner Bk. Natures Bathes Eng. f. 3, in 2nd Pt. Herball These baths are good for..the unfelinge and slepinge membres.
1818 J. Hogg Brownie of Bodsbeck I. 289 On pretence of a sleeping leg.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VI. 640 Pressure, not in itself severe, will in time produce the well-known sleeping foot.
4.
a. Inactive, torpid, quiescent.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > [adjective]
undiscurrent1509
idlec1522
sleepinga1538
silent1583
unactive1599
passive1604
quiescent1605
torpid1613
quieta1616
inactive1641
actionless1645
slumbering1706
slumberous1809
non-acting1838
supine1843
a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 139 Thys celestyal doctryne..ys never gyven to idul & slepyng myndys.
1598 J. Davies Epigr. ii Whilst in his sheath his sleeping sword doth bide.
1702 N. Rowe Tamerlane i. i. sig. C3v When some skilful Artist strikes the Strings, The magick numbers rouse our sleeping Passions.
a1771 T. Gray Ode in W. Mason Mem. Life & Writings (1775) 236 Till April starts, and calls around The sleeping fragrance from the ground.
a1822 P. B. Shelley Fragm. Unfinished Drama 184 Those words in which Passion makes Echo taunt the sleeping strings.
1851 G. Brimley Ess. (1858) ii. 119 As means, he may..use them to move and rouse the sleeping soul.
b. sleeping table n. an immovable apparatus on which ore is washed.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > equipment for treating ores > [noun] > for washing ore > table or frame
frame1778
sleeping table1839
sweeping-table1839
sweep-table1839
bumping table1877
rag frame1904
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 815 The grilles anglaises are similar to the sleeping tables used at Idria.
1855 J. R. Leifchild Cornwall: Mines & Miners 207 Then follow the picking, stamping, and washing on a kind of sleeping table.
c. sleeping rent n. a dead rent (see dead adj. 30).
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > hire or rent > rent (land or real property) > [noun] > dead or sleeping
sleeping rent1870
dead rent1893
1870 Law Rep.: Common Pleas Div. 584 There is no stipulation that the tenant shall pay any sleeping rent or minimum rent, or any rent in the event of no clay being raised during the term.
5. in extended use.1848 J. R. Lowell Biglow Papers 1st Ser. p. ix Associated (though only as sleeping partner) in a book.1884 H. R. Haggard Dawn II. xvi. 224 His sole motive in consenting to become, as it were, a sleeping partner in the shameful plot.
a. sleeping partner n. a partner in a business who takes no share in the actual working of it.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > non-manual worker > businessman > [noun] > partner > types of partner
sleeping partner1785
latent partner1791
principal1806
special partner1811
silent partner1818
limited partner1824
sleeper1901
limited1953
1785 in F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue
1817 W. Scott Rob Roy I. i. 18 Your father, though his fortune was vested in the house, was only a sleeping partner, as the commercial phrase goes.
1870 J. R. Lowell My Study Windows 196 He has been the sleeping partner who has supplied a great part of their capital.
1887 W. P. Frith Autobiogr. I. xvii. 203 A sleeping partner in a cloth firm at Leeds.
b. (See quot. 1880.)
ΚΠ
1880 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Miner's Right xii, in Town & Country Jrnl. 10 Apr. 702/3 A transfer of a ‘sleeping quarter share’, that is, a proportion of the property of the claim, involving a sixteenth of the entire profit, without the necessity of representing or paying for the services of an able-bodied miner.
6. Quiet, silent; motionless.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > quietness or tranquillity > [adjective]
stillc1275
coyc1330
restful1340
quieta1382
peaceablec1384
peacefula1400
undisturbleda1400
somec1460
quietous1528
reposeda1533
unnoyed1543
calma1568
halcyon1570
calmya1586
quietsome1595
halcyonian1602
undisturbeda1610
halcedonian1611
tranquila1616
tranquillous1638
slumbering1645
halcydon1648
smooth1757
slumberous1765
stilly1776
sleeping1785
unfrenzied1805
Sabbath-like1824
unbustling1826
eddyless1862
restinga1865
pacific1865
Sabbatismal1881
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > inaudibility > [adjective] > silent
coyc1330
stone-still1338
quietc1384
softa1393
peacec1400
swownc1400
tongueless1447
clumc1485
mutec1500
whist1513
silent1542
dead1548
husht1557
whisted1557
whust1558
whust1558
whisht1570
huisht1576
quiet (also mum, mute, still, etc.) as a mouse (in a cheese)1584
fordead1593
noiseless1608
whisha1612
dumba1616
soundlessa1616
st1655
silentish1737
defta1763
sleeping1785
untoned1807
mousy1812
soughless1851
deathlike1856
whisperless1863
deathly1865
1785 W. Cowper Task i. 763 The moon-beam, sliding softly in between The sleeping leaves.
1794 A. Radcliffe Myst. of Udolpho III. iii. 73 The lonely murmur of these woods, and the view of this sleeping landscape.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. xix. 257 The long lines of painted villas reflected in the sleeping canals.
1872 W. Black Strange Adventures Phaeton xix. 276 The chimneys and slates of the sleeping houses.
Derivatives
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > drowsiness > [noun]
somnolencec1386
sleepingness1398
slumberness1495
sleepiness1580
soporiferousness1598
somnolency1623
dozedness1671
doziness1679
swother?c1730
sleepfulness1818
somnolescence1831
sleepy-headiness1841
slumberousness1842
nappishness1851
sleepy-headedness1884
snooziness1887
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (Bodl.) vii. v Ȝif..þe woodenes dureþ þre daies with slepingnes,..þere is no hope of rekoueryng.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1362adj.c1369- beat one'the meat
- beat oneself with one's own staff
- beat oscillator
- beat out
- beat out of
- beat out of the field
- beat over the old ground
- beat poet
- beat poetry
- beat pointless
- beat seconds
- beat sense into
- beat sense into a etc
- beat sense into a organization
- beat sense into a person
- beat seven bells out of a person
- beat some sense into
- beat some sense into a etc
- beat some sense into a organization
- beat some sense into a person
- beat someone's daylights out
- beat swords into ploughshares
- beat the air
- beat the band
- beat the bargain