Sleep , n. [AS. sl&aemacr;p; akin to OFries. slēp, OS. slāp, D. slaap, OHG.
slāf, G. schlaf,
Goth. slēps. 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. &fist; 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.
Sleep of plants (Bot.), a state of plants, usually at night, when their leaflets approach each other, and the flowers close and droop, or
are covered by the folded leaves.
Syn.
-- Slumber; repose; rest; nap; doze; drowse.
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.
Sleep , v. i. [imp. & p. p. Slept (?); p. pr. & vb.
n. Sleeping.]
[OE. slepen, AS. sl&?;pan; akin to OFries. sl&?;pa, OS. slāpan, D. slapen, OHG.
slāfan, 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.
Sleep (?), obs. imp. of Sleep. Slept.
Chaucer.
Hear it pronounced