sleeper
See also: Sleeper
English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Noun
sleeper (plural sleepers)
- Someone who sleeps.
- 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.
- That which lies dormant, as a law.
- (Can we date this quote by Francis Bacon and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- 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 […]
- (Can we date this quote by Francis Bacon and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- A spy, saboteur, or terrorist who lives unobtrusively in a community until activated by a prearranged signal; may be part of a sleeper cell.
- A railway sleeping car.
- We spent a night on an uncomfortable sleeper between Athens and Vienna.
- Something that achieves unexpected success after an interval of time.
- A box-office bomb when it first came out, the film was a sleeper, becoming much more popular decades after being released.
- A goby-like bottom-feeding freshwater fish of the family Lua error in Module:parameters at line 780: Parameter "noshow" is not used by this template..
- A nurse shark (family Lua error in Module:parameters at line 780: Parameter "noshow" is not used by this template.).
- A type of pajama for a person, especially a child, that covers the whole body, including the feet.
- Aaron, Devin, and Laura looked so comfy in their sleepers.
- (slang) 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.
- (slang) A sedative.
- 1995, Faithless (band), Insomnia (song)
- At least a couple of weeks since I last slept,
Kept takin' sleepers, but now I keep myself pepped.
- At least a couple of weeks since I last slept,
- 1995, Faithless (band), Insomnia (song)
- A small starter earring, worn to prevent a piercing from closing.
Synonyms
- (goby-like fish): sleeper goby
Antonyms
- (automobile): cop magnet, rice burner, racecar
Derived terms
Translations
someone who sleeps
|
that which lies dormant, as a law
|
saboteur or terrorist waiting to be activated
|
railroad sleeping car — see sleeping car
something that achieves unexpected success after an interval of time
freshwater fish of the family Odontobutidae
|
nurse shark — see nurse shark
type of pajamas that covers the whole body
|
internally modified automobile, retaining a mostly stock appearance
sedative — see sedative
starter earring
|
Verb
sleeper (third-person singular simple present sleepers, present participle sleepering, simple past and past participle sleepered)
- (rare) To mark a calf by cutting its ear.
- 1963, Jack Schaefer: Monte Walsh, p 81:
- I expect there ain't a trick to maverickin' and sleeperin' and changin' a brand he don't know.
- 1963, Jack Schaefer: Monte Walsh, p 81:
Translations
to mark a calf by cutting its ear — see earmark
Etymology 2
Compare Norwegian sleip (“a sleeper (a timber); as adjective, slippery, smooth”). See slape.
Noun
sleeper (plural sleepers)
- (rail transport, British) A railroad tie.
The short wooden bars are sleepers, and the long metal bars are rails. - 1901, George Gipps, The Fighting in North China (up to the Fall of Tientsin City), Shanghai: Kelly and Walsh, →OL, page 40:
- 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.
- Synonym: (US) tie
- (carpentry) A structural beam in a floor running perpendicular to both the joists beneath and floorboards above.
- (nautical) A heavy floor timber in a ship's bottom.
- (nautical) The lowest, or bottom, tier of casks.
Translations
railroad tie — see railroad tie
References
Anagrams
Categories:
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/iːpə(r)
- English terms suffixed with -er
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- en:Rail transportation
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- en:Clothing
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- en:Sharks