sleeping 1 of 3

sleeping

2 of 3

noun

sleeping

3 of 3

verb

present participle of sleep
1
as in napping
to be in a state of sleep the baby slept for the entire length of the car trip found the night watchman sleeping at his post

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

2
as in breeding
to engage in sexual intercourse if I don't read the tabloids, how will I know who is sleeping with whom this week?

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for sleeping
Adjective
  • Tornadoes in the Southeastern U.S. are more likely to strike overnight, when people are asleep and cannot quickly protect themselves, which makes these events dramatically more dangerous.
    Daniel Chavas, The Conversation, 23 May 2025
  • The vote was that close in part because Rep. Andrew Garbarino, a New York Republican who would've voted to support it, was asleep at the time, House Speaker Mike Johnson said.
    Jesse Zanger, CBS News, 22 May 2025
Verb
  • During the winter months, your lawn is either growing slowly or resting in dormancy, depending on the climate in your region.
    Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 7 Jan. 2025
  • But the infection typically does improve with resting, drinking fluids and over-the-counter medication.
    Christina Shaw, Fox News, 7 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • Glenn Close may have played the dog-napping Cruella De Vil in the 1996 live-action 101 Dalmatians, but Stone starred in this 2021 prequel, which explored Cruella's origins inside the world of high fashion.
    James Mercadante, EW.com, 30 Mar. 2025
  • While napping has been found to be beneficial for cognitive abilities like memory and function, the timing is important — longer naps and napping later in the afternoon could cause someone to feel more alert when bedtime rolls around, Drerup said.
    Taylor Nicioli, CNN, 14 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • The cause of the blaze has not been determined, but the company has acknowledged that it may have been sparked by a faulty dormant power line operated by Edison.
    Caroline Petrow-Cohen, Los Angeles Times, 22 May 2025
  • Perhaps the Flyers believe that a certain segment of the fan base that’s been dormant through what has been a mostly incompetent decade will awaken with the return of one of the organization’s most popular all-time players now running the day-to-day operations at ice level.
    Kevin Kurz, New York Times, 21 May 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Sleeping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sleeping. Accessed 2 Jun. 2025.

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