nod off

British  

verb

1. informal (intr, adverb) to fall asleep

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nod off Idioms  

1. Fall asleep momentarily, doze, as in Grandma spends a lot of time in her rocking chair, nodding off now and then. This expression alludes to the quick involuntary dropping of one's head from an upright position when drowsy or napping. The verb nod alone was so used from the mid-1500s. Also see drop off, def. 1.

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Example Sentences

Sam A. Davis didn’t exactly love Ivan Turgenev’s short story “The Singers,” at first — “honestly, I nodded off a couple times,” he says.

From Los Angeles Times

Mosquitoes found me again as I nodded off too, but their whining could not keep me awake this time.

From Literature

Apparently, according to some reporters in the room, even members of his staff briefly nodded off.

From Salon

For at least the past several years, lawyers say, he has appeared at times to nod off on the bench.

From The Wall Street Journal

Taking L-theanine does improve people’s perception of the quality of their sleep and how long it takes to nod off, according to a review of research published this year in the journal Sleep Medicine Reviews.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• bed down
• doze
• fall asleep
• languish
• relax
• snooze