polyphasic
Americanadjective
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having more than two phases.
-
habitually doing more than one thing at a time.
a polyphasic personality.
Etymology
Origin of polyphasic
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.
Mice are nocturnal and are "polyphasic sleepers" -- napping for a few minutes before arousing briefly to survey their environment and then resuming their slumber.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 21, 2024
Whether polyphasic sleep exists among modern humans is also up for debate.
From National Geographic ● Jan. 4, 2024
Yes, there is a jape about polyphasic sleep.
From The Verge ● Feb. 26, 2020
From an infant's polyphasic snippets of slumber to the “hyper-associative problem-solving benefits” of REM dreaming, Walker's investigation is anything but soporific.
From Nature ● Oct. 10, 2017
They found that both were polyphasic sleepers, meaning they napped in several short bouts over the course of a night.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 3, 2017
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
