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Synonyms

sleeping pill

American  

noun

  1. a pill or capsule containing a drug for inducing sleep.


sleeping pill British  

noun

  1. a pill or tablet containing a sedative drug, such as a barbiturate, used to induce sleep

"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

Etymology

Origin of sleeping pill

First recorded in 1940–45

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.

The articles I’ve read say not to take a sleeping pill and to use nonmedicinal techniques instead.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 1, 2022

He was also prescribed Zyprexa, as well as the sleeping pill Ambien and trazodone, which is often given to help patients sleep.

From New York Times • Sep. 11, 2021

She’s a self-described “loudmouth,” and also, she told me, “I went to take a vitamin just now, and I took a sleeping pill instead, so I can feel myself even getting a little bit chattier.”

From Slate • Feb. 10, 2021

North Korean officials, though, have repeatedly denied accusations that Warmbier was tortured, instead claiming that he had suffered from botulism and then slipped into a coma after taking a sleeping pill.

From Fox News • Apr. 26, 2019

I wish I had a sleeping pill to take, she thought, and looked again over her shoulder, compulsively, at the window, and then again at the door, and thought, Is it moving?

From "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson