fall asleep

Idioms  

1. Go to sleep; also, cease paying attention. For example, As soon as the lights were dimmed he fell asleep, or His lectures are so dull that I fall asleep. The literal usage, which uses the verb fall in the sense of “succumb,” dates from about 1300; the figurative is several centuries newer. Also see asleep at the switch.

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Example Sentences

“I did see . . . something fast. If you two wouldn’t have fallen asleep so early, you would have seen it, too.”

From Literature

Just after midnight, when Clare had finally fallen asleep, he was jolted awake by a clatter of dishes in his kitchen.

From Literature

It knows how long it takes you to fall asleep and reports alleged wakeups in the middle of the night.

From The Wall Street Journal

Mercurial and unreliable in the studio, Stewart would sometimes fall asleep on the couch during recording sessions or lie down in the vocal booth.

From The Wall Street Journal

According to The New York Times, Hellerstein was seen falling asleep during a trial last year and needed to be roused by his colleagues.

From Barron's

Related Words

• bed down
• doze
• languish
• relax
• snooze