forty winks

American  

noun

Informal.

1. a short nap.

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forty winks British  

noun

1. informal (functioning as singular or plural) a short light sleep; nap

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forty winks Cultural  

1. A nap; a short sleep: “If you're feeling drowsy, take forty winks; I'll wake you when our guests arrive.”

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forty winks Idioms  

1. A brief nap, as in There's just time for forty winks before we have to leave. This expression supposedly was first recorded in 1828 and relies on wink in the sense of “sleep,” a usage dating from the 14th century.

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Etymology

Origin of forty winks

First recorded in 1815–25

Example Sentences

We probably all know about counting sheep, or letting sleeping dogs lie, but the facts about forty winks in the animal kingdom are still subject to debate.

From BBC • Mar. 3, 2014

Then I managed to get forty winks or so of sleep around sunrise.

From "The World According to Humphrey" by Betty G. Birney

And in 500 days you would have got down to the classical forty winks.

From The Invisible Censor by Hackett, Francis

"I feel a bit sleepy," admitted Crosthwaite; "but don't you think you ought to have forty winks, sir?"

From The Fight for Constantinople A Story of the Gallipoli Peninsula by Westerman, Percy F. (Percy Francis)

I've a heavy day before me, and must e'en steal forty winks.'

From My Lords of Strogue, Vol. I (of III) A Chronicle of Ireland, from the Convention to the Union by Wingfield, Lewis