Word of the Day: Sleep
sleep
sleep / ˈslēp
verb
1. to rest by suspending voluntary bodily function and naturally suspending consciousness; to stop being awake
He who cannot sleep can still dream.
Ivorian Proverb
2. to be inactive or lie dormant
There is a great volcano sleeping in every laziness!
Mehmet Murat Ildan, ?-
noun
1. the state in most living things marked by loss of consciousness and REM cycles, which is necessary to the restoring of vitality and bodily and mental function
Sleep is the best cure for waking troubles.
Miguel de Cervantes, 1547-1616
2. a period of such activity
The loss of one night’s sleep is followed by ten days of inconvenience.
Chinese Proverb
3. a state that is like natural suspension of consciousness, such as hibernation
When a bear wakes up from hibernation, he doesn’t eat a few blueberries and then go back to sleep.
Seth Moulton, 1978-
4. death
We are such stuff as dreams are made on; and our little life is rounded with a sleep.
William Shakespeare, 1564-1616
5. the crusty substance found in the corner of the eye after waking
I blinked the sleep out of my eyes …
from ‘The Red Pyramid’ by Rick Riordan, 1964-
Etymology
From the Anglo-Saxon slaep.
Etymology provided by Allen Ward.