Pronunciations
-
/ˈsliːpə(ɹ)/
Noun
Someone who sleeps.
- Examples
-
I'm a light sleeper: I get woken up by the smallest of sounds.
She's a heavy sleeper: it takes a lot to wake her up.
More examples (1)
Waveless mattresses are for those who prefer a more stationary [night's sleep]; semiwaveless for those who want a slight rocking motion, and free-flow for sleepers who want the feel of a boat. All beds come with temperature controls, and king- and queen-size models offer dual controls.
That which lies dormant, as a law.
- Examples
-
Therefore let penal laws, if they have been sleepers of long, or if they be grown unfit for the present time, be by wise judged confined in the execution […]
The object of these provisions is to prevent insertion of "jokers" or "sleepers" in bills and securing passage under the false color of the title.
A spy, saboteur, or terrorist who lives unobtrusively in a community until activated by a prearranged signal; may be part of a sleeper cell.
- Synonyms
- Examples
-
More examples (1)
We are up against the pros; and pros who have been involved in this kind of activity for many years. […] The public apathy today is disturbing — few realize, Mr. Chairman, that there are sleepers in this country and we know that they are able to manipulate at will behind the scenes.
A small starter earring, worn to prevent a piercing from closing.
- Examples
-
More examples (1)
His skull earring had been replaced by a small gold sleeper. […] Fiona, who also had pierced ears, remarked on his sleeper. “Doesn’t Wilton allow pierced ears?” she asked. “No way!” said Leslie. “Rules about everything. But I wanted to keep my options open, as you might say. No one’s made me take it out yet. […]”
A railway sleeping car.
- Examples
-
We spent a night on an uncomfortable sleeper between Athens and Vienna.
More examples (1)
It is realised that the old Pullman standard sleeper, with its convertible "sections", each containing upper and lower berths, and with no greater privacy at night than the curtains drawn along both sides of a middle aisle, has had its day.
A sleeper hold.
- Examples
-
Detailed floral stripe on sofas, sleepers and loveseats with correlating provincial print on double ruffle trim.
More examples (2)
The Slobproof line — made with a softer, more supple version of Crypton Ms. Weiner developed with the manufacturer — includes sectionals, sleepers, sofas and chairs (the Jacob chair, above left, is $975).
The mechanism is far easier to maneuver than those found in classic sleepers (see video below). That’s because you’re lifting only two of the three panels—the third glides up or down against the back of the couch and easily slides into position whether you’re opening or closing the sleeper.
Something that achieves unexpected success after an interval of time.
- Synonyms
- Examples
-
A box-office bomb when it first came out, the film was a sleeper, becoming much more popular decades after being released.
For example, the [racehorse] trainer may have tipped a betting syndicate that he is about to unleash a sleeper […]
Any member of the family Odontobutidae of goby-like bottom-feeding freshwater fish.
A nurse shark (family Ginglymostomatidae).
A type of pajama for a person, especially a child, that covers the whole body, including the feet.
- Examples
-
Aaron, Devin, and Laura looked so comfy in their sleepers.
An automobile which has been internally modified to excess, while retaining a mostly stock appearance in order to fool opponents in a drag race, or to avoid the attention of the police.
Usage- Slang
- Antonyms
A sedative.
Usage- Slang
- Examples
-
At least a couple of weeks since I last slept, / Kept takin' sleepers, but now I keep myself pepped.
Major trials show an association between the use of 'sleepers' known as benzodiazepines and an increased risk of developing dementia.
A bet placed on the gambling table and then forgotten about by the gambler.
Usage- Slang
A pod or similar device containing a person in cryosleep.
Verb
To mark a calf by cutting its ear.
Usage- Rare
- Examples
-
I expect there ain't a trick to maverickin' and sleeperin' and changin' a brand he don't know.
Noun
A railroad tie.
Usage- UK usage
- Examples
-
More examples (4)
"There," she said to herself, looking into the shadow of the carriage, at the sand and coal dust which covered the sleepers— "there, in the very middle, and I will punish him and escape from everyone and from myself."
The train, minus the three abandoned trucks, again proceeded at a slow pace, with a pump trolley doing pilot ahead ; this was very necessary as a great many sleepers were found to have been burnt underneath the fishplates.
I should imagine that the smooth riding and the quietness of the diesel or electric cab, coupled with the effect on the eyes of endless successions of sleepers disappearing from sight immediately under the driver's eyes, might in time have a soporific effect, so that the company of a second man, who can assist in signal observations when he is not at work in the engine cab, seems highly desirable in such conditions.
Government surveyors set to work, importing hundreds of Indian coolies, thousands of donkeys and camels, and the millions of sleepers required for this monstrous engineering project.
A structural beam in a floor running perpendicular to both the joists beneath and floorboards above.
A heavy floor timber in a ship's bottom.
The lowest, or bottom, tier of casks.
Noun
a rester who is sleeping
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
a spy or saboteur or terrorist planted in an enemy country who lives there as a law-abiding citizen until activated by a prearranged signal
an unexpected achiever of success
- Examples
-
the winner was a true sleeper — no one expected him to get it
one of the cross braces that support the rails on a railway track
- Synonyms
- Examples
-
the British call a railroad tie a sleeper
a passenger car that has berths for sleeping
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
pajamas with feet; worn by children
a piece of furniture that can be opened up into a bed
- Broader terms
tropical fish that resembles a goby and rests quietly on the bottom in shallow water
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
an unexpected hit
- Examples
-
that movie was the sleeper of the summer