sleeper
Part of speech: noun
Morphological type: derivation
Topics: automotive
gambling
games
government
hobbies
lifestyle
literature
martial-arts
media
military
politics
publishing
science-fiction
sports
transport
vehicles
war
wrestling
Etymology: From Middle English sleper, equivalent to sleep + -er.
Base: sleep
Affixes: -er
Inflected forms:
form: sleepers
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: Someone who sleeps.
pos: noun
examples: I'm a light sleeper: I get woken up by the smallest of sounds.
She's a heavy sleeper: it takes a lot to wake her up.
Waveless mattresses are for those who prefer a more stationary [night's sleep]; semiwaveless for those who want a slight rocking motion, and free-flow for sleepers who want the feel of a boat. All beds come with temperature controls, and king- and queen-size models offer dual controls.
gloss: That which lies dormant, as a law.
pos: noun
examples: Therefore let penal laws, if they have been sleepers of long, or if they be grown unfit for the present time, be by wise judged confined in the execution […]
The object of these provisions is to prevent insertion of "jokers" or "sleepers" in bills and securing passage under the false color of the title.
gloss: A spy, saboteur, or terrorist who lives unobtrusively in a community until activated by a prearranged signal; may be part of a sleeper cell.
pos: noun
examples: We are up against the pros; and pros who have been involved in this kind of activity for many years. […] The public apathy today is disturbing — few realize, Mr. Chairman, that there are sleepers in this country and we know that they are able to manipulate at will behind the scenes.
gloss: A small starter earring, worn to prevent a piercing from closing.
pos: noun
examples: His skull earring had been replaced by a small gold sleeper. […] Fiona, who also had pierced ears, remarked on his sleeper. “Doesn’t Wilton allow pierced ears?” she asked. “No way!” said Leslie. “Rules about everything. But I wanted to keep my options open, as you might say. No one’s made me take it out yet. […]”
gloss: A railway sleeping car.
pos: noun
examples: We spent a night on an uncomfortable sleeper between Athens and Vienna.
It is realised that the old Pullman standard sleeper, with its convertible "sections", each containing upper and lower berths, and with no greater privacy at night than the curtains drawn along both sides of a middle aisle, has had its day.
gloss: A sleeper hold.
pos: noun
gloss: Something that achieves unexpected success after an interval of time.
pos: noun
examples: A box-office bomb when it first came out, the film was a sleeper, becoming much more popular decades after being released.
For example, the [racehorse] trainer may have tipped a betting syndicate that he is about to unleash a sleeper […]
gloss: Any of family Odontobutidae of goby-like bottom-feeding freshwater fish.
pos: noun
gloss: A nurse shark (family Ginglymostomatidae).
pos: noun
gloss: A type of pajama for a person, especially a child, that covers the whole body, including the feet.
pos: noun
examples: Aaron, Devin, and Laura looked so comfy in their sleepers.
gloss: An automobile which has been internally modified to excess, while retaining a mostly stock appearance in order to fool opponents in a drag race, or to avoid the attention of the police.
pos: noun
tags: slang
gloss: A sedative.
pos: noun
tags: slang
examples: At least a couple of weeks since I last slept, / Kept takin' sleepers, but now I keep myself pepped.
gloss: A bet placed on the gambling table and then forgotten about by the gambler.
pos: noun
tags: slang
gloss: A pod or similar device containing a person in cryosleep.
pos: noun
Derived words: bedside sleeper
car-sleeper
cold sleeper
cosleeper
dark sleeper
daysleeper
fat sleeper
hot sleeper
insleeper
nonsleeper
railway sleeper
rough sleeper
short sleeper
short-sleeper
sleeper account
sleeper agent
sleeper berth
sleeper build
sleeper bus
sleeper cab
sleeper cell
sleeper effect
sleeperette
sleeper pick
sleeper shark
sleepershark
sleeper ship
sofa sleeper
sofa-sleeper
spinycheek sleeper
spiny-cheek sleeper
super-sleeper
Translations: