- present participle of sleep.
sleeping
Americannoun
adjective
-
of, relating to, or having accommodations for sleeping.
a sleeping compartment.
-
used to sleep in or on.
a sleeping jacket.
-
used to induce or aid sleep or while asleep.
sleeping mask.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sleeping
Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; see origin at sleep, -ing 1, -ing 2
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.
A pedestrian passes by a man sleeping on the sidewalk in downtown Los Angeles Aug. 21.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2026
Being tired going to bed really helped my sleeping hours and meant I was never kept awake worrying about what was going wrong at work.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026
Josimar Medina, a 31-year-old Peruvian who was holidaying in Spain with his girlfriend, said he was sleeping on the Renfe train when "I woke up and I was in the air."
From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2026
To study the spiders' sleeping behavior, the team placed individual Portia fimbriata spiders in plastic dishes measuring 12 centimeters in diameter.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 27, 2026
The plans he rearranged to come here weren’t just sleeping late or breakfasting with friends.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
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