sleep
verb/sliːp/
/sliːp/
Verb Forms
Idioms Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they sleep | /sliːp/ /sliːp/ |
| he / she / it sleeps | /sliːps/ /sliːps/ |
| past simple slept | /slept/ /slept/ |
| past participle slept | /slept/ /slept/ |
| -ing form sleeping | /ˈsliːpɪŋ/ /ˈsliːpɪŋ/ |
- [intransitive] to rest with your eyes closed and your mind and body not active
- Let her sleep—it'll do her good.
- + adv./prep. to sleep well
- to sleep deeply/soundly/peacefully/badly
- I couldn't sleep because of the noise.
- I can't sleep at night and I'm stressed all the time.
- It was nice to sleep in my own bed again.
- They now sleep in separate rooms.
- He told me I could sleep on the floor at his place.
- I had to sleep on the sofa.
- He slept solidly for ten hours.
- I slept at my sister's house last night (= stayed the night there).
- We both slept right through (= were not woken up by) the storm.
- She only sleeps for four hours a night.
- We sometimes sleep late at the weekends (= until late in the morning).
- I put the sleeping baby down gently.
- What are our sleeping arrangements here (= where shall we sleep)?
Synonyms sleepsleepdoze ▪ nap ▪ snoozeThese words all mean to rest with your eyes closed and your mind and body not active.sleep to rest with your eyes shut and your mind and body not active:- Did you sleep well?
- I couldn’t sleep last night.
- He was dozing in front of the TV.
- My brother was snoozing on the sofa.
- to sleep/doze lightly/fitfully
- to doze/snooze gently
Extra Examples- Did you sleep well last night?
- No, I slept pretty badly.
- He was exhausted and slept deeply.
- I had to sleep on my back for the first few days after the accident.
- I haven't slept properly for weeks.
- I've been having trouble sleeping lately.
- She always slept very lightly so I had to be careful not to wake her.
- She felt as if she had hardly slept.
- She scolded him for sleeping so long.
- The children were all sleeping soundly.
- Very few babies sleep through the night.
- We slept overnight at the beach.
- When the murderer is caught we can all sleep easier in our beds at night.
- Be quiet—I'm trying to sleep!
- He lay there for hours, sleeping fitfully.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- properly
- soundly
- well
- …
- be unable to
- cannot
- try to
- …
- for
- through
- with
- …
- have trouble sleeping
- not sleep a wink
- sleep like a baby
- …
Definitions on the go
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- [transitive, no passive] sleep somebody to have enough beds for a particular number of people
- The apartment sleeps six.
- The hotel sleeps 120 guests.
Word OriginOld English slēp, slǣp (noun), slēpan, slǣpan (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch slapen and German schlafen.
Idioms
See sleep in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee sleep in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishbreathe/rest/sleep easy
- to relax and stop worrying
- You can rest easy—I'm not going to tell anyone.
- I can sleep easy knowing that she's safely home.
let sleeping dogs lie
- (saying) to avoid mentioning a subject or something that happened in the past, in order to avoid any problems or arguments
live/sleep rough
- (British English) to live or sleep outdoors, usually because you have no home and no money
- young people sleeping rough on the streets
not get/have a wink of sleep | not sleep a wink
- to not be able to sleep
- I didn't get a wink of sleep last night.
- I hardly slept a wink.
sleep/breathe/rest easy
- to relax and stop worrying
- I can sleep easy knowing that she's safely home.
sleep like a log/baby
- (informal) to sleep very well
- He was so tired after all his exertions, he slept like a baby.
- I usually sleep like a log.
sleep tight
- (informal) used especially to children before they go to bed to say that you hope they sleep well
- Goodnight, sleep tight!
Check pronunciation:
sleep