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Synonyms

fall asleep

Idioms  

  1. Go to sleep; also, cease paying attention. For example, As soon as the lights were dimmed he fell asleep, or His lectures are so dull that I fall asleep. The literal usage, which uses the verb fall in the sense of “succumb,” dates from about 1300; the figurative is several centuries newer. Also see asleep at the switch.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

There I was, reading the texts for the thousandth time, about to fall asleep, when another message came through.

From Literature

I’m not sure how long I sat there before my eyes slid shut and I fell asleep.

From Literature

Catherine O'Sullivan said she had waited up for her son but fell asleep after receiving a text from him at 01:52, assuring her he would find a lift home.

From BBC

Insomnia makes it hard to fall asleep or stay asleep.

From Science Daily

The results look like something you’d see in the 1990s after falling asleep on the couch with the TV on and waking up at 2 a.m.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.