sleeper
Americannoun
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a person or thing that sleeps.
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a heavy horizontal timber for distributing loads.
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Building Trades.
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any long wooden, metal, or stone piece lying horizontally as a sill or footing.
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any of a number of wooden pieces, laid upon the ground or upon masonry or concrete, to which floorboards are nailed.
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a sleeping car.
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Informal. something or someone that becomes unexpectedly successful or important after a period of being unnoticed, ignored, or considered unpromising or a failure.
The play was the sleeper of the season.
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merchandise that is not quickly sold because its value is not immediately recognized.
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Often sleepers. one-piece or two-piece pajamas with feet, especially for children.
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a sofa, chair, or other piece of furniture that is designed to open up or unfold into a bed; convertible.
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Also called sleep, sand. a globule that forms at the inner corner of the eye, especially during sleep, from the accumulated secretion of the glands of the eyelid.
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any of several gobioid fishes of the family Eleotridae, of tropical seas, most species of which have the habit of resting quietly on the bottom.
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Slang. a spy; mole.
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Slang. a juvenile delinquent sentenced to serve more than nine months.
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Bowling. a pin that is hidden from view by another pin.
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Chiefly British. a timber or beam laid in a railroad track, serving as a foundation or support for the rails; tie.
noun
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a person, animal, or thing that sleeps
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a railway sleeping car or compartment
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US and Canadian equivalent: tie. one of the blocks supporting the rails on a railway track
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a heavy timber beam, esp one that is laid horizontally on the ground
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a small plain gold circle worn in a pierced ear lobe to prevent the hole from closing up
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a wrestling hold in which a wrestler presses the sides of his opponent's neck, causing him to pass out
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an unbranded calf
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Also called: sleeper goby. any gobioid fish of the family Eleotridae, of brackish or fresh tropical waters, resembling the gobies but lacking a ventral sucker
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informal a person or thing that achieves unexpected success after an initial period of obscurity
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a spy planted in advance for future use, but not currently active
Etymology
Origin of sleeper
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.
I am very lucky in that I’m a very good sleeper and the few times in my life when I do experience insomnia, it’s infuriating to me because I am spoiled, basically.
From Los Angeles Times
For the past seven years in Leeds, the Homeless Street Angels charity has been providing food, shoes, sleeping bags and blankets for rough sleepers.
From BBC
It was fortunate for Duane that he was such a sound sleeper and far too big for an arctic fox to push out of bed because Magic would eventually give up and leave.
From Literature
“I think I’m a professional sleeper,” she said.
A heated mattress pad can offer many of the same benefits, often with separate zones for two sleepers, and with inconspicuous wiring.
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.
