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

See Examples For:

fall asleep

Hot nights can make it harder to fall asleep, increase waking during the night and leave people feeling less rested the next day.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026

When you hold your loved one’s hand as they fall asleep and die right in front of you, it stays with you.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos must put that scene on a loop every night to help him fall asleep.

From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026

Occasionally a driver might fall asleep, but another will soon open up.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

I fall asleep thinking how different this revolutionary song is from Mamá’s Spanish song about the girl trapped in a tower at sea.

From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar

Related Words

• bed down
• doze
• languish
• relax
• snooze