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SLEEPER
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
An unexpected hit
Example:
that movie was the sleeper of the summer
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("sleeper" is a kind of...):
bang; hit; smash; smasher; strike (a conspicuous success)
Domain usage:
figure; figure of speech; image; trope (language used in a figurative or nonliteral sense)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Tropical fish that resembles a goby and rests quietly on the bottom in shallow water
Synonyms:
sleeper; sleeper goby
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("sleeper" is a kind of...):
percoid; percoid fish; percoidean (any of numerous spiny-finned fishes of the order Perciformes)
Holonyms ("sleeper" is a member of...):
Eleotridae; family Eleotridae (sleepers)
Sense 3
Meaning:
A piece of furniture that can be opened up into a bed
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("sleeper" is a kind of...):
article of furniture; furniture; piece of furniture (furnishings that make a room or other area ready for occupancy)
Derivation:
sleep (be able to accommodate for sleeping)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Pajamas with feet; worn by children
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("sleeper" is a kind of...):
jammies; pajama; pj's; pyjama ((usually plural) loose-fitting nightclothes worn for sleeping or lounging; have a jacket top and trousers)
Sense 5
Meaning:
A passenger car that has berths for sleeping
Synonyms:
sleeper; sleeping car; wagon-lit
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("sleeper" is a kind of...):
carriage; coach; passenger car (a railcar where passengers ride)
Meronyms (parts of "sleeper"):
drawing room (a private compartment on a sleeping car with three bunks and a toilet)
roomette (a small private compartment for one on a sleeping car)
Derivation:
sleep (be able to accommodate for sleeping)
Sense 6
Meaning:
One of the cross braces that support the rails on a railway track
Example:
the British call a railroad tie a sleeper
Synonyms:
crosstie; railroad tie; sleeper; tie
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("sleeper" is a kind of...):
brace; bracing (a structural member used to stiffen a framework)
Holonyms ("sleeper" is a part of...):
railroad; railroad track; railway (a line of track providing a runway for wheels)
Sense 7
Meaning:
A rester who is sleeping
Synonyms:
sleeper; slumberer
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("sleeper" is a kind of...):
rester (a person who rests)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sleeper"):
dreamer (someone who is dreaming)
Rip van Winkle (a person who sleeps a lot)
sleeping beauty (a person who is sleeping soundly)
noctambulist; sleepwalker; somnambulist (someone who walks about in their sleep)
snorer (someone who snores while sleeping)
somniloquist (someone who talks while asleep)
Derivation:
sleep (be asleep)
Sense 8
Meaning:
An unexpected achiever of success
Example:
the winner was a true sleeper--no one expected him to get it
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Hypernyms ("sleeper" is a kind of...):
achiever; succeeder; success; winner (a person with a record of successes)
Sense 9
Meaning:
A spy or saboteur or terrorist planted in an enemy country who lives there as a law-abiding citizen until activated by a prearranged signal
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Hypernyms ("sleeper" is a kind of...):
diversionist; saboteur; wrecker (someone who commits sabotage or deliberately causes wrecks)
spy; undercover agent ((military) a secret agent hired by a state to obtain information about its enemies or by a business to obtain industrial secrets from competitors)
terrorist (a radical who employs terror as a political weapon; usually organizes with other terrorists in small cells; often uses religion as a cover for terrorist activities)
Domain category:
act of terrorism; terrorism; terrorist act (the calculated use of violence (or the threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear)
Holonyms ("sleeper" is a member of...):
sleeper nest (a nest of sleepers awaiting a prearranged signal)
Context examples:
Twice I called him by his name, in the tone in which I might have tried to rouse a sleeper, before he heeded me.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
The sleepers were all aroused: ejaculations, terrified murmurs sounded in every room; door after door unclosed; one looked out and another looked out; the gallery filled.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
She shuddered, tossed about in her bed, and envied every quiet sleeper.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
Or else he would see a room in a rich house, where his friend lay asleep, dreaming and smiling at his dreams; and then the door of that room would be opened, the curtains of the bed plucked apart, the sleeper recalled, and lo! there would stand by his side a figure to whom power was given, and even at that dead hour, he must rise and do its bidding.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
The sleepers did not mind.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
Now it is well known that when there are many of these flowers together their odor is so powerful that anyone who breathes it falls asleep, and if the sleeper is not carried away from the scent of the flowers, he sleeps on and on forever.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
The sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep slumber.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The researchers also found that the lifespan of the naturally long and short sleepers did not differ significantly from the flies with normal sleeping patterns.
(Researchers explore complex genetic network behind sleep duration, National Institutes of Health)
And those who were long sleepers who also had poor sleep quality were 82% more likely to later have a stroke.
(Regular extended sleep increases risk of stroke, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
The ambassador remained standing by the sleeper, waited until he stretched his limbs and opened his eyes, and then conveyed to him this proposal.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
