asleep

[uh-sleep]

adverb

1. in or into a state of sleep.

   He fell asleep quickly.

2. into a dormant or inactive state; to rest.

   Their anxieties were put asleep.

3. into the state of death.

adjective

1. sleeping.

   He is asleep.

2. dormant; inactive.

3. (of the foot, hand, leg, etc.) numb.

4. dead.

asleep

/ əˈsliːp /

adjective

1. in or into a state of sleep

2. in or into a dormant or inactive state

3. (of limbs, esp when the blood supply to them has been restricted) numb; lacking sensation

4. euphemistic,  dead

Other Word Forms

• half-asleep adjective
• quasi-asleep adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of asleep¹

before 1000; Middle English o slæpe, aslepe, Old English on slǣpe; a- ¹, sleep

Idioms and Phrases

• fall asleep

Example Sentences

Our daughter will be asleep in the other room.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Word of the ceasefire came early Thursday morning in Gaza, as Mohammad Rajab, 62, was still asleep.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

You are supposed to fall asleep on the couch, then wake up and wonder if it’s Sunday or Thursday.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“We have been asleep at the regulatory switch…putting the system at risk,” Marc Rowan, Apollo’s chief executive, told investors on a call in February.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"While I'm eating spaghetti or asleep, the book is still busy," is how he describes it.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• comatose 
• dormant