sleeping

[slee-ping]

noun

1. the condition of being asleep.

adjective

1. asleep.

2. of, relating to, or having accommodations for sleeping.

   a sleeping compartment.

3. used to sleep in or on.

   a sleeping jacket.

4. used to induce or aid sleep or while asleep.

   sleeping mask.

Other Word Forms

• unsleeping adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sleeping¹

Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; sleep, -ing ¹, -ing ²

Example Sentences

Mr Walker is stuck in Black River, sleeping in whoever's house is still standing that will accept him, he says, while his eight-year-old son is in Westmoreland, the next parish over.

Read more on BBC

I say “where we’d be sleeping” here, rather than “slept,” because no sleep was had that night, and not because romance activities kept us from our slumber.

Read more on Salon

“You won’t see much of him. Oscar spends most of his time sleeping in the house.”

Read more on Literature

The troops, accompanied by drones and light armoured vehicles, entered Blida and stormed the town hall, where the employee - named as Ibrahim Salameh - was sleeping, according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency.

Read more on BBC

Tourists stranded at the airport, some sleeping on the floor among their luggage, said they had no communication and were running low on cash as card transactions were not working.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• comatose 
• unconscious