twilight sleep

American  

noun

Medicine/Medical.

1. a state of semiconsciousness, usually produced by hypodermic injections of scopolamine and morphine, used chiefly to effect relatively painless childbirth.

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twilight sleep British  

noun

1. med a state of partial anaesthesia in which the patient retains a slight degree of consciousness

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Etymology

Origin of twilight sleep

First recorded in 1910–15

Example Sentences

They’re going to put me in a type of twilight sleep, something I experienced about four years ago when I had to have an endoscopy for my acid reflux.

From The Guardian

But when it came time for childbirth they also were experiencing a state akin to the Twilight Zone - that is, twilight sleep.

From Washington Times

They call it twilight sleep and a woman don’t feel a thing when the kid comes.

From Literature

“You sweet, stubborn satyrs refused to accept my passing. And I love you for that, but you only delayed the inevitable. You only prolonged my long, painful passing, my dark twilight sleep. It must end.”

From Literature

It’s twilight sleep; an Ambien catnap; an evening voyage on a Watteau barge.

From The New Yorker