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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.

Luis developed a rash, but at the medical clinic he was given allergy medication and sleeping pills.

From Los Angeles Times

My parents, now retired in Brazil, had me bring various things from L.A.: headphones, soft toothbrushes, hair dryers, sleeping pills, heating pads, slippers, nasal sprays, art books, cashmere sweaters.

From Los Angeles Times

Just a few months after Epstein's death from an accidental sleeping pills overdose, The Beatles formed Apple Corps, which they hoped would protect their financial interests.

From BBC

Instead, doctors treated individual symptoms, prescribing headache medicine, antidepressants and sleeping pills.

From New York Times

Are sleeping pills the only solution for insomnia?

From Science Daily

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.