sleeper

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sleep·er

(slē′pər)

1. One that sleeps: a heavy sleeper who was not wakened by the burglar.

2. A sleeping car.

3. often sleepers Children's pajamas, usually with legs that cover the feet.

a. One that achieves unexpected recognition or success, as a racehorse or movie.

b. A spy or saboteur who is planted in an enemy country and who lives unobtrusively as a citizen of that country until activated into clandestine operations by a prearranged signal.

5. A horizontal structural member on or near the ground that supports weight.

6. Chiefly British A railroad crosstie.

7. Any of various chiefly tropical fishes of the family Eleotridae of fresh, brackish, and shallow marine waters, resembling the gobies but without fused pelvic fins and noted for their habit of lying immobile.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

sleeper

(ˈsliːpə)

1. a person, animal, or thing that sleeps

2. (Railways) a railway sleeping car or compartment

3. (Railways) Brit one of the blocks supporting the rails on a railway track. US and Canadian equivalent: tie

4. (Building) a heavy timber beam, esp one that is laid horizontally on the ground

5. (Jewellery) chiefly Brit a small plain gold circle worn in a pierced ear lobe to prevent the hole from closing up

6. (Wrestling) a wrestling hold in which a wrestler presses the sides of his opponent's neck, causing him to pass out

7. (Agriculture) US an unbranded calf

8. (Animals) 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

9. informal a person or thing that achieves unexpected success after an initial period of obscurity

10. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) a spy planted in advance for future use, but not currently active

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sleep•er

(ˈsli pər)

n.

1. a person or thing that sleeps.

2. a heavy horizontal timber for distributing loads.

a. any long wooden, metal, or stone piece lying horizontally, as a sill or footing.

b. any of a number of wooden pieces, laid upon the ground or upon masonry or concrete, to which floorboards are nailed.

4. sleeping car.

5. an unexpected success, esp. a film or play originally ignored or considered a failure.

6. Often, sleepers. one-piece or two-piece pajamas with feet, esp. for children.

7. a piece of furniture, as a sofa, that opens up or unfolds into a bed.

8. mole ¹ (def. 2).

9. Slang. a juvenile delinquent sentenced to serve longer than nine months.

[1175–1225]

sleeper

(railroad track) tie

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	sleeper - a rester who is sleeping slumberer dreamer - someone who is dreaming rester - a person who rests Rip van Winkle - a person who sleeps a lot sleeping beauty - a person who is sleeping soundly noctambulist, sleepwalker, somnambulist - someone who walks about in their sleep snorer - someone who snores while sleeping somniloquist - someone who talks while asleep
	2.	sleeper - a spy or saboteur or terrorist planted in an enemy country who lives there as a law-abiding citizen until activated by a prearranged signal act of terrorism, terrorism, terrorist act - the calculated use of violence (or the threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear sleeper nest - a nest of sleepers awaiting a prearranged signal; "sleeper nests of Islamic terrorists were capable of launching major attacks in Europe" diversionist, saboteur, wrecker - someone who commits sabotage or deliberately causes wrecks spy, undercover agent - (military) a secret agent hired by a state to obtain information about its enemies or by a business to obtain industrial secrets from competitors terrorist - a radical who employs terror as a political weapon; usually organizes with other terrorists in small cells; often uses religion as a cover for terrorist activities
	3.	sleeper - an unexpected achiever of success; "the winner was a true sleeper--no one expected him to get it" achiever, succeeder, winner, success - a person with a record of successes; "his son would never be the achiever that his father was"; "only winners need apply"; "if you want to be a success you have to dress like a success"
	4.	sleeper - one of the cross braces that support the rails on a railway track; "the British call a railroad tie a sleeper" crosstie, railroad tie, tie bracing, brace - a structural member used to stiffen a framework railroad track, railway, railroad - a line of track providing a runway for wheels; "he walked along the railroad track"
	5.	sleeper - a passenger car that has berths for sleeping sleeping car, wagon-lit drawing room - a private compartment on a sleeping car with three bunks and a toilet carriage, passenger car, coach - a railcar where passengers ride roomette - a small private compartment for one on a sleeping car
	6.	sleeper - pajamas with feet; worn by children jammies, pj's, pyjama, pajama - (usually plural) loose-fitting nightclothes worn for sleeping or lounging; have a jacket top and trousers
	7.	sleeper - a piece of furniture that can be opened up into a bed article of furniture, furniture, piece of furniture - furnishings that make a room or other area ready for occupancy; "they had too much furniture for the small apartment"; "there was only one piece of furniture in the room"
	8.	sleeper - tropical fish that resembles a goby and rests quietly on the bottom in shallow water sleeper goby percoid, percoid fish, percoidean - any of numerous spiny-finned fishes of the order Perciformes Eleotridae, family Eleotridae - sleepers
	9.	sleeper - an unexpected hit; "that movie was the sleeper of the summer" hit, smasher, smash, bang, strike - a conspicuous success; "that song was his first hit and marked the beginning of his career"; "that new Broadway show is a real smasher"; "the party went with a bang" figure of speech, trope, image, figure - language used in a figurative or nonliteral sense

sleeper

noun

A dazzling, often sudden instance of success:

hit.

Informal: smash, smash hit, ten-strike, wow.

Slang: boff, boffo, boffola.

Translations

عَرَبَة نَوْمنائِم

lůžkospáč

sovekupésovendesoveplads

Schläfer Schlafwagen

couchette dormeur

hálókocsi

sofandi maîursvefnpláss

vagone letto traversina treno con vagone letto avere il sonno leggero cuccetta

den sovende sovekupé

spáč

uyuyan kişiyataklı vagon

卧铺睡眠者

sleeper

[ˈsliːpəʳ] N

1. (= person) → durmiente mf

2. (fig) (= spy) espía emplazado en un objetivo, pero sin misión concreta o que aún no es operativo
to be a heavy/light sleeper → tener el sueño pesado/ligero
to be a good/poor sleeper → dormir bien/mal

3. (Brit) (Rail) (on track) → traviesa f, durmiente m; (= berth) → litera f; (= compartment) → camarín m, alcoba f; (= coach) → coche-cama m

4. (esp Brit) (= earring) → arete m

5. (US) (for baby) → pijama m de niño

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

sleeper

[ˈsliːpə^r] n

(= person) → dormeur/euse m/f
to be a good sleeper
Her first baby was not a good sleeper → Son premier bébé dormait mal.
to be a light sleeper → avoir le sommeil léger
I'm a light sleeper → J'ai le sommeil léger.

(British) (on rail track) → traverse f

(= train) → train-couchettes m

(= sleeping carriage) → wagon-lits m, voiture-lits f

(= berth) → couchette f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

sleeper

(= person) → Schlafende(r) mf, → Schläfer(in) m(f); to be a heavy/light sleeper → einen festen/leichten Schlaf haben

(Brit Rail: = on track) → Schwelle f

(Brit Rail: = train) → Schlafwagenzug m; (= coach) → Schlafwagen m; (= berth) → Platz m → im Schlafwagen; I’ve booked a sleeper → ich habe Schlafwagen gebucht

(esp Brit: = earring) einfacher Ohrring, der das Zuwachsen des Loches im Ohrläppchen verhindern soll

(= spy) → abgeschalteter Agent, abgeschaltete Agentin

(= terrorist) → Schläfer m

sleepers pl (US: = child’s pyjamas) → einteiliger Schlafanzug

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

sleeper

[ˈsliːpəʳ] n

a. (person) → dormiente m/f
to be a heavy/light sleeper → avere il sonno pesante/leggero

b. (Brit) (Rail) (track) → traversina; (berth) → cuccetta; (coach) → vagone m letto inv

c. (earring) → campanella

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

sleep

(sliːp) – past tense, past participle slept (slept) – verb

to rest with the eyes closed and in a state of natural unconsciousness. Goodnight – sleep well!; I can't sleep – my mind is too active.

noun

(a) rest in a state of natural unconsciousness. It is bad for you to have too little sleep, since it makes you tired; I had only four hours' sleep last night.

ˈsleeper noun

1. a person who sleeps. Nothing occurred to disturb the sleepers.

2. a berth or compartment for sleeping, on a railway train. I'd like to book a sleeper on the London train.

ˈsleepless adjective

without sleep. He spent a sleepless night worrying about the situation.

ˈsleepy adjective

1. inclined to sleep; drowsy. I feel very sleepy after that long walk.

2. not (seeming to be) alert. She always has a sleepy expression.

3. (of places etc) very quiet; lacking entertainment and excitement. a sleepy town.

ˈsleepily adverb

ˈsleepiness noun

ˈsleeping-bag noun

a kind of large warm bag for sleeping in, used by campers etc.

ˈsleeping-pill / ˈsleeping-tablet nouns

a kind of pill that can be taken to make one sleep. She tried to commit suicide by swallowing an overdose of sleeping-pills.

ˈsleepwalk verb

to walk about while asleep. She was sleepwalking again last night.

ˈsleepwalker noun

put to sleep

1. to cause (a person or animal) to become unconscious by means of an anaesthetic; to anaesthetize. The doctor will give you an injection to put you to sleep.

2. to kill (an animal) painlessly, usually by the injection of a drug. As she was so old and ill my cat had to be put to sleep.

sleep like a log/top

to sleep very well and soundly.

sleep off

to recover from (something) by sleeping. She's in bed sleeping off the effects of the party.

sleep on

to put off making a decision about (something) overnight. I'll sleep on it and let you know tomorrow.

sleeper

(fam) V. sleeping pill.

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

said I, looking dubiously at the sleeper. But it seemed that, when on the wharf, Queequeg had not at all noticed what I now alluded to; hence I would have thought myself to have been optically deceived in that matter, were it not for Elijah's otherwise inexplicable question.

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While these whispers were passing, the sleeper's heart did not throb, nor his breath become agitated, nor his features betray the least token of interest.

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From all these phases of the storm, Riderhood would turn, as if they were interruptions--rather striking interruptions possibly, but interruptions still--of his scrutiny of the sleeper.

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He began, `Oh, great and just God, no man among us knows what the sleeper knows, nor is it for us to judge what lies between him and Thee.' He prayed that if any man there had been remiss toward the stranger come to a far country, God would forgive him and soften his heart.

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As it was, miserably and helplessly, not half himself, a puppet dreamer in a half-nightmare, he knew, as a restless sleeper awakening between vexing dreams, that he was being transported head-downward out of the canoe house that stank of death, through the village that was only less noisome, and up a path under lofty, wide-spreading trees that were beginning languidly to stir with the first breathings of the morning wind.

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"Up!" said he to himself, "thou sleeper! Thou noontide sleeper!

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He looked about him for an offensive weapon, caught up the snuffers, and, before applying them to the cabbage-headed candle, lunged at the sleeper as though he would have run him through the body.

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My foot struck something yielding--it was a sleeper's leg; and he turned and groaned, but without awaking.

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Behind the sleeper stands an old cask, which serves for a table.

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Within a hundred yards of the ground it came to rest, floating gently in the light air, and at the same instant an alarm sounded at the sleeper's ear.

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When certain that he was undiscovered, the Dahcotah raised his person again, and bending forward, he moved his dark visage above the face of the sleeper, in that sort of wanton and subtle manner with which the reptile is seen to play about its victim before it strikes.

View in context

But one important detail I have omitted from my description of the sleeper. Her left hand lay gloveless, and of the four rings on her third finger one was a wedding-ring.