Hypertext Webster Gateway: "sleep"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Sleep \Sleep\, v. t.
1. To be slumbering in; -- followed by a cognate object; as,
to sleep a dreamless sleep. --Tennyson.

2. To give sleep to; to furnish with accomodations for
sleeping; to lodge. [R.] --Blackw. Mag.

{To sleep away}, to spend in sleep; as, to sleep away
precious time.

{To sleep off}, to become free from by sleep; as, to sleep
off drunkeness or fatigue.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Sleep \Sleep\, obs.
imp. of Sleep. Slept. --Chaucer.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Sleep \Sleep\, n. [AS. sl[=ae]p; akin to OFries. sl[=e]p, OS.
sl[=a]p, D. slaap, OHG. sl[=a]f, G. schlaf, Goth. sl[=e]ps.
See {Sleep}, v. i.]
A natural and healthy, but temporary and periodical,
suspension of the functions of the organs of sense, as well
as of those of the voluntary and rational soul; that state of
the animal in which there is a lessened acuteness of sensory
perception, a confusion of ideas, and a loss of mental
control, followed by a more or less unconscious state. ``A
man that waketh of his sleep.'' --Chaucer.

O sleep, thou ape of death. --Shak.

Note: Sleep is attended by a relaxation of the muscles, and
the absence of voluntary activity for any rational
objects or purpose. The pulse is slower, the
respiratory movements fewer in number but more
profound, and there is less blood in the cerebral
vessels. It is susceptible of greater or less intensity
or completeness in its control of the powers.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Sleep \Sleep\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Slept}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Sleeping}.] [OE. slepen, AS. sl?pan; akin to OFries. sl?pa,
OS. sl[=a]pan, D. slapen, OHG. sl[=a]fan, G. schlafen, Goth.
sl?pan, and G. schlaff slack, loose, and L. labi to glide,
slide, labare to totter. Cf. {Lapse}.]
1. To take rest by a suspension of the voluntary exercise of
the powers of the body and mind, and an apathy of the
organs of sense; to slumber. --Chaucer.

Watching at the head of these that sleep. --Milton.

2. Figuratively:
(a) To be careless, inattentive, or uncouncerned; not to
be vigilant; to live thoughtlessly.

We sleep over our happiness. --Atterbury.
(b) To be dead; to lie in the grave.

Them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring
with him. --1 Thess. iv.
14.
(c) To be, or appear to be, in repose; to be quiet; to be
unemployed, unused, or unagitated; to rest; to lie
dormant; as, a question sleeps for the present; the
law sleeps.

How sweet the moonlight sleep upon this bank!
--Shak.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

sleep
n 1: a natural and periodic state of rest during which
consciousness of the world is suspended; "he didn't get
enough sleep last night"; "calm as a child in dreamless
slumber" [syn: {slumber}]
2: a torpid state resembling sleep
3: a period of time spent sleeping; "he felt better after a
little sleep"; "a brief nap" [syn: {nap}]
4: euphemisms for death (based on an analogy between lying in a
bed and in a tomb); "she was laid to rest beside her
husband"; "they had to put their family pet to sleep"
[syn: {rest}, {eternal rest}, {eternal sleep}, {quietus}]
v 1: be asleep [syn: {kip}, {slumber}, {log Z's}, {catch some Z's}]
[ant: {wake}]
2: be able to accommodate for sleeping; "This tent sleeps six
people"


Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup

Enter word here:
Exact Approx


dict.stokkie.net
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents; see the Webster Gateway FAQ, and also the Back-end/database links and credits.