▪ I. slumber, n.
(ˈslʌmbə(r))
Forms: α. 5 slomur, -owre, 6 slommer, 5–6 Sc. slummer (9 dial.), -ir. β. 5–6 slomber (5 -bre, -bir), 6 sloumber, 6– slumber.
[f. slumber v. Cf. Fris. slommer, slûmer, Du. sluimer, LG. slümer, late MHG. slummer (G. schlummer), Da. and Sw. slummer.]
1. a. Sleep, repose. Chiefly poet.
| ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 3221 He..fore slewthe of slomowre one a slepe fallis. 1530 Palsgr. 271/2 Slommer, somme, somneil. 1582 Stanyhurst æneis iii. (Arb.) 75 With slumber is holden Eche liuing creature. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, iii. ii. 123 Ere theise eyes of mine take themselues to slomber. 1634 Milton Comus 1001 Young Adonis..Waxing well of his deep wound In slumber soft. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 583 His Eyes with heavy Slumber overcast. 1754 Gray Poesy 23 Quench'd in dark clouds of slumber. 1848 Lytton Harold vii. iv, There was no further thought of slumber that night. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus lxiv. 122 When her eyes lay bound in slumber's shadowy prison. |
b. With possessive pronouns.
| c 1386 Chaucer Miller's T. 630 This carpenter out of hese slombir sterte. c 1402 Lydg. Compl. Bl. Knt. 16 With a sigh I gan for to abreyde Out of my slombre. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xiv. 1 Devysing in my slummer, How that this realme [etc.]. 1616 W. Browne Brit. Past. ii. v, Let this her slumber..Make her beleeve our love was but a dreame! 1849 James Woodman ix, The next instant, her slumber was broken. |
2. A period or occasion of sleep or repose;
freq., a light or short sleep.
| α c 1400 Destr. Troy 13285 Thai have no dainty of drynk,..But derkon euon down on a depe slomur. c 1470 Henry Wallace vii. 71 In that slummir, cummand him thocht he saw Ane agit man. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxxv. 9 For weirines on me ane slummer soft Come. a 1599 A. Hume Poems (S.T.S.) v. 91 He makes the physicke take effect, the slummers soft he geifis. |
| β 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. i. (Percy Soc.) 7 Thus as I satte in a deadly slomber, Of a great horne I harde a royal blast. 1550 Crowley Epigr. 1178 He fell in a sloumber. 1611 Tourneur Ath. Trag. v. i, No, my Lord. Nor sleepe nor wake. But in a slumber troublesome to both. 1661 Dryden Panegyrick Coronation 42 Officious slumbers haste your eyes to close. 1725 N. Robinson Th. Physick 319 If he takes none the first Night, his Slumbers may be more compos'd the following. 1791 Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest i, Madame La Motte found her sunk in a disturbed slumber. 1836 Thirlwall Greece xi. II. 27 His youth..passed away in a preternatural slumber. 1841 Spalding Italy & It. Isl. I. 304 The Mons Vultur, which sheltered Horace's infant slumbers. |
3. fig. A state or condition of repose, rest, inactivity, or quiescence.
| 1552 Lyndesay Monarche 6300 Dreid nocht to dee; for deith is bot ane slummer. 1579 W. Wilkinson Confut. Fam. Love 17 b, Your imagination is but the shadow of a slumber. 1605 G. Powel Refut. Ep. Puritan-Papist 85 It was by reason of impunitie and slumber of Iustice. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xxix. (1787) III. 132 The son of Theodosius passed the slumber of his life, a captive in his palace. 1797 Godwin Enquirer i. vi. 37 The human mind awoke from a slumber. 1822 Shelley tr. Calderon's Mag. Prodig. i. 239 Thou canst not Restore it [a sword] to the slumber of the scabbard. 1845 Maurice Mor. Philos. in Encycl. Metrop. (1847) II. 650/1 Those who teach that the powers of man woke at once from a deep slumber just at the beginning of the XVth Century. |
4. attrib. and
Comb., as
slumber-bed,
slumber-land, etc.;
slumber-bound,
slumber-closing,
slumber-wrapt adjs.;
slumber cap, a light, close-fitting cap of lace, ribbon, etc., worn in bed to keep the hair tidy;
slumbercoach U.S., a railway car which provides economical private sleeping accommodation;
slumber net, a slumber cap made of net;
slumber party U.S., a party for youngsters (
esp. girls) who stay on to sleep overnight;
slumber room U.S., a room in which a corpse is laid out by an undertaker until the funeral takes place;
slumberwear, night-clothes.
| c 1445 Lydg. Nightingale 57 Oute of thy *slombre-bed of slouth & sleep. |
| 1820 Shelley Two Spirits 30 Look from thy dull earth, *slumber-bound. c 1840 Mrs. Browning Isobel's Child ix, The little mouth so slumber-bound. |
| 1928 Sunday Dispatch 8 July 16 Shingle caps or *slumber caps for the seaside..in Nottingham lace, bound with pink, blue or any coloured satin ribbon. 1971 ‘A. Gilbert’ Tenant for Tomb iii. 47 She rolled up the plaits under..a slumber cap, an affair of bright blue silk and lace and a ribbon bow. |
| 1798 W. Sotheby tr. Wieland's Oberon (1826) I. 162 Strive to unbolt their *slumber-closing eye. |
| 1958 Washington Post 26 June c19/3 B & O charges regular coach fare plus $6 service charge for a single room..for its *slumbercoaches, which are operated on only one train, the Baltimore-Washington-Chicago Columbian. 1979 United States 1980/81 (Penguin Travel Guides) 19 Long-distance trains offer sleeping accommodations..slumbercoaches, private rooms,..roomettes. |
| 1882 Swinburne Tristr. of Lyonesse vi. 109 The great good wizard..Takes his strange rest at heart of *slumberland. 1887 Illustr. Lond. News 20 Aug. 217 We are half way to Slumberland. |
| 1930 J. Rhys After leaving Mr Mackenzie ii. xiii. 217 Out of the second door emerged a lady in a pink dressing⁓gown, with her hair hidden by a *slumber-net. 1950 A. Wilson Such Darling Dodos 79 The artifice of the black waved hair..beneath the neat mesh of the slumber net. 1966 Olney Amsden & Sons Ltd. Price List 23 Hair and slumber nets. |
| [1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §251/1 Sleep,..*slumber party.] 1949 Senior Prom Nov. 22/2 For a girls' party you might have a brunch, lunch, dinner,..or slumber party. 1954 Life 26 Apr. 186/2 Because it was to be a slumber party, the 19 girls..came carrying pillows, blankets and floppy animals—but no one really expecting to get much sleep. 1974 A. Lurie War between Tates ix. 181 ‘I'm invited to Elsie's slumber party.’ ‘Oh? And what is a slumber party?’ ‘Don't you even know that? You have a party, and then you sleep overnight.’ |
| 1936 *Slumber-room [see funeral-home s.v. funeral n. 6]. 1963 J. Mitford Amer. Way of Death iv. 61 The slumber rooms are elusively reminiscent of some other feature of American life... ‘So then you've got a slumber room tied up for three days or more,’ he said... ‘How much would it cost you to stay in a good motel for three days?’.. Motels for the dead! That's it, of course. 1979 Sun-Times (Chicago) 28 Sept. 4 Would it be considered improper to take a photograph of a deceased friend or relative in the slumber room during viewing hours? |
| 1909 Punch 24 Mar. 206/3 The famous house so long consecrated to the habiliments of Morpheus, or ‘*slumberwear’, as of late we have been taught to call them. 1961 L. P. Hartley Two for River iv. 74 If he called her now she would probably be in bed, and come down in her nightgown or her pyjamas, or whatever slumberwear she favoured, and that would never do. |
| 1838 Eliza Cook Sailing Song i. 6 The *slumber-wrapt might of the waves. |
▪ II. slumber, v. (
ˈslʌmbə(r))
Forms: α. 3
slumeren, 4
slomyr, 5
-yre,
-eron, 5–6
slom(m)er, 6
Sc. slummer. β. 4–6
slombre, 5
sloumbre, 6
slomber; 4–
slumber.
[ME. slūmeren, etc., f. slūmen sloom v.1 or slūme sloom n.1, corresponding to Fris. slûmerje, MDu. slum-, sloem-, sluymeren (Du. sluimeren), MLG. slômeren (LG. slommern, slümern), late MHG. slum(m)ern, slommern (G. schlummern); Da. slumre, Sw. slumra are of G. origin. The development of the b between m and r is in accordance with English phonetic tendencies.] 1. intr. To sleep,
esp. to sleep lightly; to doze or drowse.
| α c 1220 Bestiary 576 in O.E. Misc. 18 Sipmen..slumeren and slepen, and to late waken. a 1340 Hampole Psalter lxxv. 6 Þai slomyrd þat steghe horsis. c 1400 Destr. Troy 8428 As þis burde was in bed.., slomeryng a while, Sho was affrayet full foule. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 460/1 Slomeron, dormito, nictitor. 1561 Winȝet Tract. Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 6 He nother slepis nor slummeris quha behaldis al ȝour doingis. |
| β 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. Prol. 10 As I lay..and lokede on þe watres, I slumberde in a slepyng. c 1400 Rom. Rose 4005 He slombred, and a nappe he toke. c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) i. 302 To sle and morder yong children þat in þer cradell slumber. 1530 Palsgr. 722/1 He dothe nat slepe nowe, he dothe but slomber. 1599 Thynne Animadv. (1875) 56 He neyther slombrethe nor slepethe, but alwayes watchethe. 1605 B. Jonson Volpone i. i, Corb. Does he sleep well? Mos. No wink, sir, all this night, Nor yesterday; but slumbers. 1681 Dryden Abs. & Achit. 447 Like a Lion, Slumb'ring in the way, Or Sleep dissembling, while he waits his Prey. 1746 Francis tr. Horace, Art Poet. 488, I..hold it for a Fault..If honest Homer slumber o'er his Muse. 1818 Scott Br. Lamm. xxxv, He ate without refreshment, and slumbered without repose. 1878 Browning La Saisiaz Introd. ii, Soul that canst soar! Body may slumber. |
| transf. 1825 T. Hook Sayings Ser. ii. Man of Many Fr. l. 320 Her..tooth-brush and nail-brush slumbered together in one small tray. |
b. fig. To lie at rest in death or the grave.
| 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. ii. iv. 15 That I may slumber in eternall sleepe. ? 1809 Shelley Death, a Dial. 6 Say, victim of grief, wilt thou slumber with me? 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. i. i. ii, The Dead all slumbering round it. 1851 Longfellow Gold. Leg. (1856) 58 Underneath this mouldering tomb..Slumbers a great lord of the village. |
2. fig. To live in a state of inactivity or negligence; to remain or be sunk
in sin, sloth, etc.; to be dilatory or tardy
in doing something.
| c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 395 For siche occupacions and chargis maken prestis slepynge & slumbrynge in synne. c 1400 Rom. Rose 2576 Whyl thou so slomrest in that thought, That is so swete and delitable. a 1400 Relig. Pieces fr. Thornton MS. 58 Tho sawles..slomers noghte no slepis noghte in þe slowthe of fleschly lustes. 1515 Barclay Ecloges iv. (1570) C iij b, In sloth thou slombrest as buried were thy song. 1601 Shakes. All's Well iii. vi. 78 Ber. But you must not now slumber in it. Par. Ile about it this euening. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 161 ¶3, I have always thought it unworthy of a wise man to slumber in total inactivity. 1788 Gibbon Decl. & F. li. V. 366 The successors of Alaric had slumbered in a long peace. 1848 Gallenga Italy (1851) 459 That fatal security which had..allowed the Lombards to slumber on the mere fame of their exploits. |
3. Of things, faculties, etc.: To be dormant, inoperative, or quiescent.
| 1582 N.T. (Rhem.) 2 Peter ii. 3 And their perdition [1611 their damnation] slumbereth not. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 24 Now conscience wakes despair That slumberd. 1727 De Foe Hist. Appar. iii. (1840) 23 As the Scripture says in another case, his damnation slumbereth not. 1799 Campbell Pleas. Hope i. 460 The might that slumbers in a peasant's arm. 1818 Scott Rob Roy v, As my kinsman's politeness seems to be still slumbering. 1845 S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. II. 383 We see the lowering tempest which slumbered behind this appearance of confidence. |
b. To be calm, peaceful, or still.
| 1764 Goldsm. Trav. 312 Dull as their lakes that slumber in the storm. 1818 Scott Rob Roy xxxiii, The clouds of mist which might otherwise have slumbered till morning on the valley. 1830 Tennyson Arab. Nts. 79 The garden-bowers and grots Slumber'd. |
c. To flow, move
along, sleepily or peacefully.
| 1868 Hawthorne Amer. Note-bks. (1879) II. 69 The stream..slumbers along. |
† 4. trans. To cause to sleep; to render inactive or inoperative; to dull or deaden.
Obs.| c 1532 G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 922 O fortune, sorowe increasyng, and slombryng all delyces. 1547 Bk. of Marchantes b vj, They haue so slombred, blinded, and abeasted the poore worlde. 1622 Donne Serm. 24 Feb. (1626) 22 To smother sinne from the eye of the world, or to slumber the eye of our owne conscience from the sight of sinne. 1642 Wotton Dk. Buck'm. in Reliq. (1672) 232 To honest a deed after it was done, or to slumber his conscience in the doing. |
† b. To render still, calm, or quiet; to muffle (a drum), silence (a noise).
Obs.| 1622 Donne Serm. 15 Sept. 4 This Song of Deborah were enough..to slumber any storme, to becalme any tempest. 1647 A. Farindon Serm. i. 18 This is it, which alone is able to slumber this noise. |
5. To pass, spend, or waste (time) in sleep or slumber. Const.
away,
out,
through; rarely without adverb.
| 1749 Fielding Tom Jones viii. ix, She had slumbered away the day in order to sit up all night. 1750 Johnson Rambler No. 33 ¶9 Rest..reposed herself in alcoves, and slumbered away the winter upon beds of down. 1820 Scott Monast. vi, He would in other times have slumbered out his term of preferment with as much credit as any other ‘purple Abbot’. 1854 J. S. C. Abbott Napoleon (1855) II. i. 31 They slumbered away their remaining years in idleness. |
b. To drive
away, get rid of, by slumbering.
| 1829 H. Blunt Hist. S. Peter (1832) 169 These reflections..had been slumbered fruitlessly away. |
Hence
ˈslumbered ppl. a., wrapt in slumber; unconscious.
rare.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. vii. 15 Then vp he tooke the slombred sencelesse corse. |