slumber
Americanverb (used without object)
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slumbers,
present (3rd person singular)
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slumbered,
past participle, past
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slumbering
present participle
-
to sleep, especially lightly; doze; drowse.
-
to be in a state of inactivity, negligence, quiescence, or calm.
Vesuvius is slumbering.
verb (used with object)
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slumbers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
slumbered,
past participle, past
-
slumbering
present participle
-
to spend or pass (time) in slumbering (often followed by away, out, orthrough ).
to slumber the afternoon away.
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to dispel or forget by slumbering (often followed byaway ).
to slumber cares away.
noun
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slumbers
plural
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Sometimes slumbers. sleep, especially light sleep.
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a period of sleep, especially light sleep.
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a state of inactivity, quiescence, etc.
verb
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(intr) to sleep, esp peacefully
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(intr) to be quiescent or dormant
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to spend (time) sleeping
noun
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(sometimes plural) sleep
-
a dormant or quiescent state
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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slumbersimple
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slumberssimple
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have slumberedperfect
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has slumberedperfect
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am slumberingprogressive
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are slumberingprogressive
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is slumberingprogressive
-
have been slumberingperfect progressive
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has been slumberingperfect progressive
Past
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slumberedsimple
-
had slumberedperfect
-
was slumberingprogressive
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were slumberingprogressive
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had been slumberingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of slumber
1175–1225; (v.) Middle English slumeren, frequentative of slumen to doze, derivative of Old English slūma sleep ( see -er 6); compare German schlummern; (noun) Middle English slomur, slomber, derivative of the v.
Explanation
Slumber means "sleep" — as a verb or noun. If you're a sound sleeper, you might slumber peacefully right through a thunderstorm, your slumber undisturbed. To slumber is to sleep, sometimes specifically to sleep lightly or doze. You can slumber in your bed, in your airplane seat, or through your alarm in the morning. Slumber can also describe a peacefulness, like your quiet street that seems to slumber early in the morning. The phrase slumber party was first used in the 1940s to mean a gathering held at night, that usually involves very little slumbering.
Vocabulary lists containing slumber
Beowulf vocabulary
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The Blood of Olympus
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Nehru's "Tryst with Destiny" Speech
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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.
See Examples For:
When the slumber party started at 8 p.m., the eight attendees gathered in Tail Town’s front lobby, home to resident fluffy cat queen Miss Yvonne and office manager Grizzly Bear, a brown tabby.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
But in the 1985 novel told from his point of view, he’s reborn as a rock star, emerging from a long, depressive slumber just in time to seduce the MTV generation.
From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2026
“Mobilize,” written with the assistance of Madeline Hart, a strategist at Palantir, intends to jolt us out of our national-security slumber.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
Looking at its daily chart this has lagged the energy complex since last December but I believe it will come out of its slumber shortly.
From Barron's ● Apr. 16, 2026
Mom and Dad exploded with cheers and applause, waking Fig from his peaceful slumber and sending him lumbering down the hall.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
Right now, the rascal in him slumbers, briefly glimpsed now and again behind dark shades.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 25, 2026
As the sun still slumbers early Monday, patches of dense fog are cloaking parts of Puget Sound and the southwest interior, including areas in and around Tacoma, Bellevue, Seattle and Bremerton.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 16, 2023
As his successor Major Burns continues in the role, it is unclear how often his daily performance will be waking a monarch from his slumbers.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2022
Ghosts of an ailing industry surround Gravitricity’s test site: A supply vessel serving North Sea oil rigs slumbers nearby.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 22, 2021
Madoc slumbers in Cardan’s old room, and by my calculations, we have at least an hour before he wakes.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
Hundreds of older people slumbered on thin mats on the hard lobby floor at a community centre in Uki city.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
Before Page Dickey and Francis Bosco Schell spent a single night in their house in northwestern Connecticut, clay pots of flower bulbs slumbered there, setting down roots in a space of their own.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 20, 2023
Scientists say they’re closer to an answer, thanks to an unusual study that used an electronic glove to guide people’s dreams while they slumbered.
From Science Magazine ● May 15, 2023
While RSV and influenza slumbered these past few years, society was learning an unprecedented amount about their behavior and the effect public health actions have on them.
From Slate ● Dec. 5, 2022
Now at peace, the man slumbered and lay still, but not his lady.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
Treasury debt is a slumbering giant that is starting to stir.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026
"The border with Lithuania is in 30 minutes," the assistant shouted to rouse slumbering passengers.
From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2025
Shortly before 01:00 BST on 16 October, the slumbering streets of Benwell were rent by the roar of an enormous explosion.
From BBC ● May 14, 2025
If there is indeed a slumbering mass of Americans who believe in real “we the people” democracy, they need to wake up. immediately.
From Salon ● Jan. 28, 2025
And he looked at the boy slumbering so peacefully at the bottom of the boat.
From "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury
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.
