oversleep

[oh-ver-sleep]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR oversleep ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object), o·ver·slept, o·ver·sleep·ing.

to sleep beyond the proper or intended time of waking: He overslept and missed his train.

verb (used with object), o·ver·slept, o·ver·sleep·ing.

to sleep beyond (a certain hour): She had overslept her usual time of arising.

to let (oneself) sleep past the hour of arising: Of all mornings to oversleep myself!

Origin of oversleep

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at over-, sleep

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for oversleep

hibernate, crash, languish

Examples from the Web for oversleep

Historical Examples of oversleep

Clemens was not in the best humor because I had allowed him to oversleep.
Mark Twain, A Biography, 1835-1910, Complete
Albert Bigelow Paine
What if I should oversleep and not get to breakfast, or to work, on time!
Ted and the Telephone
Sara Ware Bassett
But if I oversleep myself and am not on the look-out for you when you come, what will you do?
The Beth Book
Sarah Grand
As you may imagine, little Nabul did not oversleep the next morning.
Nabul, Our Little Egyptian Cousin
Blanche McManus
Am I not to have an atom of breakfast, because I just happened to oversleep myself?
Springhaven
R. D. Blackmore

British Dictionary definitions for oversleep

oversleep

verb -sleeps, -sleeping or -slept

(intr) to sleep beyond the intended time for getting up

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for oversleep

late 14c., from over- + sleep (v.). Related: Overslept; oversleeping. Old English had a noun oferslæp "too much sleep."