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sleep a wink, not

Idioms  

  1. Not sleep at all, as in I couldn't sleep a wink last night. This expression, in which wink alludes to closing the eyes for sleep, was first recorded about 1325.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"I couldn't sleep a wink, not if my life depended on it, that I couldn't."

From The Night Riders A Thrilling Story of Love, Hate and Adventure, Graphically Depicting the Tobacco Uprising in Kentucky by Wood, Henry C.

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.