sleeper

plural sleepers

1. Someone who sleeps.

   She's a heavy sleeper: it takes a lot to wake her up.

   2 more examples

   I'm a light sleeper: I get woken up by the smallest of sounds.

   Waveless mattresses are for those who prefer a more stationary [night's sleep]; semiwaveless for those who want a slight rocking motion, and free-flow for sleepers who want the feel of a boat. All beds come with temperature controls, and king- and queen-size models offer dual controls.

   1986 August 28, Patricia Leigh Brown, “17 YEARS OF THE WATER BED: A SOCIAL HISTORY; CHECKING OUT REFINEMENTS”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 03 Feb 2018

2. That which lies dormant, as a law.

   The object of these provisions is to prevent insertion of "jokers" or "sleepers" in bills and securing passage under the false color of the title.

   1958, Duncan Leroy Kennedy, Bill drafting, page 12

   1 more example

   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 […]

   1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Judicature”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC

3. A spy, saboteur, or terrorist who lives unobtrusively in a community until activated by a prearranged signal; may be part of a sleeper cell.

   We are up against the pros; and pros who have been involved in this kind of activity for many years. […] The public apathy today is disturbing — few realize, Mr. Chairman, that there are sleepers in this country and we know that they are able to manipulate at will behind the scenes.

   1969, United States Congress, Departments of Treasury and Post Office and Executive Office Appropriations for 1970: Hearings, (91st Congress, First Session, parts 2-3), page 479

   Synonyms: sleeper agent

4. A small starter earring, worn to prevent a piercing from closing.

   1 more example

   His skull earring had been replaced by a small gold sleeper. […] Fiona, who also had pierced ears, remarked on his sleeper. “Doesn’t Wilton allow pierced ears?” she asked. “No way!” said Leslie. “Rules about everything. But I wanted to keep my options open, as you might say. No one’s made me take it out yet. […]”

   1984, Diana Wynne Jones, Fire and Hemlock

5. A railway sleeping car.

   We spent a night on an uncomfortable sleeper between Athens and Vienna.

   1 more example

   It is realised that the old Pullman standard sleeper, with its convertible "sections", each containing upper and lower berths, and with no greater privacy at night than the curtains drawn along both sides of a middle aisle, has had its day.

   1944 November and December, “"Duplex Roomette" Sleeping Cars”, in Railway Magazine, page 324

6. furnitureA sleeper hold.

   Detailed floral stripe on sofas, sleepers and loveseats with correlating provincial print on double ruffle trim.

   1980, Montgomery Ward, “‘Country Charm’ slipcovers and all the important accessories”, in Fall & Winter ’80, Chicago, Ill., →OCLC, page 1278, column 1

   2 more examples

   The Slobproof line — made with a softer, more supple version of Crypton Ms. Weiner developed with the manufacturer — includes sectionals, sleepers, sofas and chairs (the Jacob chair, above left, is $975).

   2010 April 22, Joyce Cohen, “Slobproof Sofas and Chairs”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 Apr 2010

   The mechanism is far easier to maneuver than those found in classic sleepers (see video below). That’s because you’re lifting only two of the three panels—the third glides up or down against the back of the couch and easily slides into position whether you’re opening or closing the sleeper.

   2024 December 12, Joshua Lyon, “The Best Sleeper Sofas”, in Wirecutter, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 12 Dec 2024

7. 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.

   1 more example

   For example, the [racehorse] trainer may have tipped a betting syndicate that he is about to unleash a sleeper […]

   1968, Marvin B. Scott, The Racing Game, page 160

   Synonyms: sleeper hit

8. Any member of the family Odontobutidae of goby-like bottom-feeding freshwater fish.

   Synonyms: sleeper goby

9. A nurse shark (family Ginglymostomatidae).
10. businessA 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.

11. slangautomotiveAn 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.

    Antonyms: cop magnet, rice burner, racecar

12. slangmedicineA sedative.

    At least a couple of weeks since I last slept, / Kept takin' sleepers, but now I keep myself pepped.

    1995, “Insomnia”, in Reverence, performed by Faithless

    1 more example

    Major trials show an association between the use of 'sleepers' known as benzodiazepines and an increased risk of developing dementia.

    2017 October 21, Ellie Cannon, “ASK DR ELLIE: Why do I have itchy arms in the autumn and is insomnia a warning of Dementia?”, in Daily Mail, London: DMG Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 07 Nov 2017

13. slanggamblingA bet placed on the gambling table and then forgotten about by the gambler.
14. literatureA pod or similar device containing a person in cryosleep.

present singular third person sleepers · participle present sleepering · participle past sleepered · past sleepered

1. rareTo mark a calf by cutting its ear.

   I expect there ain't a trick to maverickin' and sleeperin' and changin' a brand he don't know.

   1963, Jack Schaefer, Monte Walsh, page 81

plural sleepers

1. UKrail transportA railroad tie.

   Government surveyors set to work, importing hundreds of Indian coolies, thousands of donkeys and camels, and the millions of sleepers required for this monstrous engineering project.

   2009, Michela Wrong, It’s Our Turn to Eat: The Story of a Kenyan Whistle Blower

   3 more examples

   "There," she said to herself, looking into the shadow of the carriage, at the sand and coal dust which covered the sleepers— "there, in the very middle, and I will punish him and escape from everyone and from myself."

   1901 [1878], chapter 31, in Constance Garnett, transl., Anna Karenina, translation of Анна Каренина (Anna Karenina) by Leo Tolstoy, part 7

   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.

   1901, George Gipps, The Fighting in North China (up to the Fall of Tientsin City), Shanghai: Kelly and Walsh, →OL, page 40

   I should imagine that the smooth riding and the quietness of the diesel or electric cab, coupled with the effect on the eyes of endless successions of sleepers disappearing from sight immediately under the driver's eyes, might in time have a soporific effect, so that the company of a second man, who can assist in signal observations when he is not at work in the engine cab, seems highly desirable in such conditions.

   1961 July, Cecil J. Allen, “Locomotive Running Past and Present”, in Trains Illustrated, page 401

   Synonyms: tie

2. businessA structural beam in a floor running perpendicular to both the joists beneath and floorboards above.
3. nauticalA heavy floor timber in a ship's bottom.
4. nauticalThe lowest, or bottom, tier of casks.

plural Sleepers

1. A surname.