Meanings
alternative cold sleep
- uncountablespace flightliteratureA deep sleep during which the body is stored at very cold temperature, to preserve it; cryogenic sleep.
By converting some of the recreation space to storerooms and adapting the storerooms thus cleared to the purpose of cold-sleep, the ship was roomy enough.
1941 August, Robert A. Heinlein, “Methuselah's Children”, in John W. Campbell, editor, Astounding Science-Fiction, volume 27, number 61 more example
He had always believed Arcadia lovely, an undespoiled planet waiting for man like a bride, more than worth decades in coldsleep aboard a spaceship, toil and danger of pioneering, isolation from the rest of humankind.
1968 September, Poul Anderson, “The Faun”, in Boys' Life, volume 58, number 9, page 33Synonyms: cryo, cryopreservation, cryosleep
present singular third person coldsleeps · participle present coldsleeping · participle past coldslept · past coldslept · alternative cold sleep
- space flightliteratureTo experience deep sleep whilst the body is stored at a very cold temperature; to engage in cryogenic sleep.
Damnation, he was quite capable of refusing to let me cold-sleep.
1956 October, Robert A. Heinlein, “The Door into Summer”, in Anthony Boucher, editor, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, volume 11, number 41 more example
The escape capsule in which he'd cold-slept had had another minor malfunction that left him staring drugged and half conscious through the port glass at open space for two days before the cryogenic process had kicked in.
1990, Anne McCaffrey, Jody Lynn Nye, The Death of SleepSynonyms: cryopreserve
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA deep sleep during which the body is stored at very cold temperature, to preserve it; cryogenic sleep.
verbTo experience deep sleep whilst the body is stored at a very cold temperature; to engage in cryogenic sleep.
Origin
Cite this entry
coldsleep. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/coldsleep
“coldsleep.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/coldsleep. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “coldsleep,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/coldsleep.
Source: coldsleep on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.