asleep
Americanadverb
-
in or into a state of sleep.
He fell asleep quickly.
-
into a dormant or inactive state; to rest.
Their anxieties were put asleep.
-
into the state of death.
adjective
-
sleeping.
He is asleep.
-
dormant; inactive.
-
(of the foot, hand, leg, etc.) numb.
-
dead.
adjective
-
in or into a state of sleep
-
in or into a dormant or inactive state
-
(of limbs, esp when the blood supply to them has been restricted) numb; lacking sensation
-
euphemistic dead
Other Word Forms
- half-asleep adjective
- quasi-asleep adjective
Etymology
Origin of asleep
before 1000; Middle English o slæpe, aslepe, Old English on slǣpe; a- 1, sleep
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.
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.
“I was like, ‘How could you fall asleep?
From Los Angeles Times
The trances were described rather opaquely as “put her asleep,” “magnetized,” or “put in the clairvoyant state.”
From Literature
By winter’s end, he could spend several weeks at a stretch asleep in his cave.
From Literature
When I finally did fall asleep, I had a wonderful dream about owning a beautiful paint pony and a brand-new .22.
From Literature
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.
