▪ I. sleeper, n.
(ˈsliːpə(r))
Also 3–5 slepar(e, 4–5 sleper(e, 6 sleaper.
[f. sleep v. + -er1. Cf. Fris. slieper, (M)Du. slaper, (M)LG. slaper, sleper, MHG. slâf-, slæfære, G. schlafer. With the transferred applications of the word in branch II cf. dormant a. 3 and n. 1 and dormer 3.]
I. 1. a. One who is inclined to sleep, or spends much time in sleep; one who sleeps (well or ill, etc.); also fig., an indolent or inactive person.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 258 Aȝean slowe & slepares is swuðe openlich his earlich ariste from deað to liue. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 319 Ho-so hath of þe watere mest, he schal beo.. gret slepare and slovȝ þar-to. c 1386 Chaucer Nun's Pr. T. 71 Ye been a verray sleper, fy for shame! 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 229 Heuy ey-liddys tokenyth good slepere. c 1440 Alph. Tales cclxxxv. 197 Cesarius tellis of ane olde monk þat was a grete sleper. a 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. I, 13 b, The protectour came in emong theim about nyne of y⊇ cloke,..saiyng merely that he had bene a sleper that daye. 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Regnard, Morning sleepers seldome thriue. a 1711 Grew (J.), He must be no great eater, drinker, nor sleeper, that will discipline his senses, and exert his mind. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. xxii, The sound of ineffectual knocking at the doors of heavy sleepers. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xxx, Being a great sleeper, and fond of his bed. 1897 Watts-Dunton Aylwin xv. i, I was always a sound sleeper. |
† b. Used predicatively: Asleep.
Obs.—1| 1530 Palsgr. 441 Whan he thynketh leste, he may happe to be taken sleper. |
2. a. One who is asleep. Also
fig., a dead person.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. i. 43 He bids thee to him send..A fit false dreame, that can delude the sleepers sent. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iv. ix. 31 Hearke the Drummes demurely wake the sleepers. 1610 ― Temp. v. i. 49 Graues at my command Haue wak'd their sleepers. 1725 Pope Odyss. x. 667 Full endlong from the roof the sleeper fell. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xvi. III. 639 Before the early dawn of midsummer, the sleepers were roused by the peal of trumpets. 1865 Trollope Belton Est. viii. 90 To place themselves at such a distance from the sleeper, that their low words could hardly disturb her. |
b. spec. in
pl. (See
seven a.)
| 1827 Jeffrey Let. xcvii. in Ld. Cockburn Life, I shall come back to you like one of the sleepers awaked. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1877) II. x. 518 By his orders the tomb of the holy sleepers at Ephesos were opened. |
c. A sleeping partner.
| 1901 Edin. Rev. Apr. 385 If..a director can be treated as a purely sleeping partner, it can do that company no harm that..the sleeper, on becoming a Minister, should cease to be a director. 1983 ‘W. Haggard’ Heirloom xi. 122, I might fix that. At a price... No consortium takes in a sleeper for nothing. |
d. A spy, saboteur, or the like, who remains inactive for a long period before engaging in spying or sabotage or otherwise acting to achieve his ends;
loosely, any undercover agent.
| 1955 H. Roth Sleeper ix. 66 Hollister.. was a sleeper—a member of the Communist Party whose whole life was dedicated to the one big moment. 1963 J. Joesten They call it Intelligence i. iv. 45 A ‘sleeper’ is an agent planted in a strategic place for a specific purpose only. 1966 M. Woodhouse Tree Frog xxv. 187 Bought, or brainwashed? Or had he been a sleeper for years, waiting for just this job? 1975 Daily Mail 16 Aug. 2/1 They had been responsible for a year-long campaign of bombings in the city... When police cleaned up the cell, the IRA activated a reserve unit of ‘sleepers’. 1976 Times 7 June 12/5 There almost certainly exists within our political establishment, what is known as a ‘sleeper’—a high level political figure who is in fact a Soviet agent, infiltrated into the system many years ago. 1981 Observer 29 Mar. 15 Key members of the..Committee concluded that only the existence of a ‘mole’ or ‘sleeper’ (the preferred ‘trade’ word) could explain the many leaks and failures of the 1950s and 1960s. |
3. Zool. a. A dormouse. Now chiefly
dial.| 1693 Ray Syn. Quad. 220 Mus Avellanarum Minor... The Dormouse or Sleeper. [Hence in Chambers, Pennant, etc.] 1804 C. Smith Conversat., etc. I. 74 To make you ample amends, and add a little sleeper, as the country people call it, to your collection of minor poetry. 1827 Griffith tr. Cuvier V. 221 Dormouse or Sleeper. 1880 E. G. O'Reilly Sussex Stories I. 4 Ralph the woodman had brought home a nest of ‘sleepers’. |
b. As the name of various fishes (see
quots.). Also
attrib.| 1668 Charleton Onomast. 135 Excætus..Adonis; the Sleeper. 1854 Eng. Cycl., Nat. Hist. I. 502 E[leotris] dormatrix, the Sleeper, is a large fish. It is found in the West Indian marshes. 1882 Jordan & Gilbert Syn. Fishes N. Amer. 15 Somniosus microcephalus, Sleeper Shark; Nurse. Ibid. 631 Eleotris gyrinus,..Sleeper. Ibid. 632 Dormitator maculatus, Sleeper. 1884 Goode Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anim. 675 The Nurse Shark or Sleeper. |
4. a. A thing in a dormant or dead state.
| 1625 Bacon Ess., Of Judicature, Let Penall Lawes, if they haue beene Sleepers of long,..be by Wise Iudges confined in the Execution. 1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words 360 Sleeper, the dead stub of a tree, in a bank, etc. 1854 A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss., Sleepers,..such grains of barley as do not vegetate whilst undergoing the process of malting. |
b. Gambling. (See
quots. 1864, 1897.)
| 1856 San Francisco Bulletin 4 Dec. 2/2 Some were waiting for ‘sleepers’, others were telling some other betters a certain card was going to win, dead ‘sure’. 1864 W. B. Dick Amer. Hoyle 208 A bet [in faro] is said to be a sleeper, when the owner has forgotten it, when it becomes public property, any one having a right to take it. 1897 R. F. Foster Compl. Hoyle 623 Sleeper, a bet left or placed on a dead card at Faro. 1939 P. A. Rollins Gone Haywire 16 A Dakota miner had been detected attempting to steal ‘sleepers’ from the faro table. 1944 [see heave ho b]. |
5. a. A railway sleeping-car; a train made up of or including sleeping-cars. Also
attrib.| 1875 Chicago Tribune 11 Sept. 3/2 Every item of wood, iron, or upholstery which enters into the make-up..of a Pullman sleeper is Selected with Skilled Care. 1880 W. Whitman Daybks. & Notebks. (1978) I. 188 On a first-class sleeper. 1881 ‘Mark Twain’ Speeches (1910) 258, I..must change cars there and take the sleeper train. 1882 G. A. Sala Amer. Revisited II. 2 The Cerberus of the ‘sleeper’ is always bringing you the wrong boots. 1892 Howells Mercy 214 He recalled the long, all-night ride without a sleeper, which he had once made on that route. 1950 O. S. Nock Brit. Locomotives from Footplate vi. 118 The run with No. 46235 on the Inverness ‘sleeper’..shows how great sometimes is the gulf between maximum locomotive capacity under ideal conditions and practical application on the road. 1952 ‘J. Tey’ Singing Sands iv. 62 A friend who came across him on the train. Saw his name on the sleeper list, or noticed him in passing. 1967 O. Wynd Walk Softly, Men Praying vii. 106 ‘You've got a sleeper reservation?’ ‘No, I was going to sit up.’ ‘All right... How about the eleven o'clock express.’ 1969 M. Pugh Last Place Left xxi. 164 He made out sleeper tickets for us..and we shared a two-berth compartment. 1970 R. Adam Stalk to Kill xi. 158 A restless night in the sleeper train from London. 1979 P. Theroux Old Patagonian Express iv. 53, I was glad to be on this sleeper to the coast. |
b. Used
attrib. and absol. to designate a vehicle with sleeping facilities.
| 1939 Nat. Geogr. Mag. Feb. 133/2 Their covered wagons are now shiny streamliners (40 hours from Chicago), or mammoth sleeper buses (which they still call ‘stages’). 1951 Amer. Speech XXVI. 308/2 Sleeper, any truck or tractor that is equipped with a sleeping berth. 1969 Sydney Morning Herald 24 May 9/7 Mr Ferrier plans to buy a sleeper-van and, with his wife, spend the next 18 months travelling around Australia. 1971 M. Tak Truck Talk 146 Sleeper cab, a tractor in which an adjoining bunk area is located behind the driver's seat. 1976 Eastern Daily Press (Norwich) 19 Nov. 14/2 (Advt.), Scania 32-ton tractor, sleeper cab. |
6. Something whose quality or value proves to be greater than was generally expected; a ‘dark horse’.
orig. U.S.| 1892 Outing (U.S.) Mar. 454/2 Williams won the high and low hurdles in record time,..and Harmar a second in the mile, being beaten by Wells, a ‘sleeper’ from Amherst. 1903 J. P. Paret Lawn Tennis iii. vi. 350 Sleeper, a slang expression meaning a player who is much better than was thought. 1926 Clues Nov. 162/2 Sleeper, something of value that has been overlooked. 1945 Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch 31 July 7/4 In film parlance, this is a sleeper—a picture made with the thought that it would be just another light Summer item, but which has turned out to be a surprisingly popular box-office success. 1962 W. & M. Morris Dict. Word & Phrase Origins I. 267 A sleeper is a stamp more rare—and thus more valuable—than the catalogue listings indicate. 1968 J. D. Watson Double Helix xx. 141 Bill's appearance was the sleeper of the three-day gathering... As soon as he had finished his unassuming report..everyone in the audience knew that a bombshell had exploded. 1978 Detroit Free Press 5 Mar. b. 12/2 In any given week of new book arrivals, there occasionally is a sleeper, a book which comes in virtually unannounced with ‘best seller’ written all over it. 1981 J. D. MacDonald Free Fall in Crimson v. 49 He made a couple of motion pictures..on a very small budget, and they were what is called sleepers. They made a lot of money, considering what they cost. |
7. Miscellaneous uses.
a. An unbranded calf which has had a notch cut in its ear.
U.S.| 1893 O. Wister Jrnl. 31 Dec. (1958) 198 Sleeper, a cow with earmark and no brand. 1933 J. V. Allen Cowboy Lore i. 12 A sleeper is a calf ear-marked by a cattle thief who intends to come back later and steal the animal. 1949 Boston Sunday Globe 1 May (Fiction Mag.) 2/1 He..gave a tally of the sleepers and mavericks he had branded. |
b. An earring,
esp. one in the form of a simple hoop, worn not primarily as ornament but to keep the hole in a pierced ear-lobe open.
| 1896 G. F. Northall Warwickshire Word-bk. 215 Sleepers, sb. pl., fine, small rings of gold, first put into the ears after boring, and afterwards worn whenever the larger ear-rings, or ‘droppers’, are inconvenient. Their use is to prevent the closing of the perforations of the lobes. 1959 News Chron. 6 Oct. 6/2 That ghastly business of turning sleepers in a fresh and often painful wound. 1971 R. Scott Wedding Man is Nicer than Cats, Miss i. 38 Even quite small girls had had their ears pierced... No one wore sleepers, but the ear-rings could be taken out and the holes plugged with tiny pieces of wood. 1978 J. Updike Coup (1979) vii. 293 Substituting for her great hoop earrings little sleepers of agate. |
c. A sleeping-suit for a baby or a small child. Also
pl. orig. N. Amer.| 1921 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 12 Oct. 7/1 (Advt.), Children's sleepers at $1.95 a suit. Made of strong quality flanelette in neat colored stripe. 1944 C. Himes Black on Black (1973) 247 Norma sat on the side of the bed and helped Lucy into her sleepers. 1970 Toronto Daily Star 24 Sept. 23/1 (Advt.), Minute imperfections should not affect wear, appearance or comfort of these cosy sleepers. 1975 Daily Tel. 14 Feb. 15/3 (caption) Lucy is in her Mothercare sleeper with vinyl feet. |
d. A particle of sleep (
sleep n. 1 d).
| 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §251/1 Sleepers, particles in the eyes after a sound sleep. 1944 H. Croome You've gone Astray i. 9 He had sleepers in his eyes, ugh! |
e. A sleeping-pill.
slang.| 1961 Rigney & Smith Real Bohemia p. xvii, Sleepers, barbiturates (sedatives), usually seconal, nembutal, amytal, etc. 1967 M. M. Glatt et al. Drug Scene vii. 91 A lot of addicts are taking liquid Methedrine with ‘sleepers’ now—it is getting worse. 1979 C. Dale Helping with Inquiries i. 11 Take a sleeper, I would, put yourself right out. |
II. 8. a. A strong horizontal beam or balk supporting a wall, joist, floor, or other main part of a building.
| 1607 Markham Caval. v. 4 All along as your sleepers lye to which you pinne downe the boards, must a trench or sinke be digged. 1675 V. Alsop Anti-sozzo 356 Had he used only Sycamores, they had never been turned into Cedars by being Sleepers in the wall. 1717 in Trans. Cumb. & Westm. Archæol. Soc. III. 199 For binding y⊇ sleepers about y⊇ eastermost pillar, 0.3.0. 1794 T. Davis Agric. Wilts. 97 The..material for barn-floors in this district is, two-inch oak plank, laid on oak sleepers. 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 47 In this way floors are made more secure, and freer from damps, than where they are nailed down to sleepers. 1851 J. S. Macaulay Field Fortif. 154 The sleepers and joists which bear on the walls should be shored up, so that..the partial fall of the walls may not of necessity be followed by that of the several floors. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. I. 79/2 The heads of the piles are cut off at one level; sleepers are laid across and fastened to them. |
† b. A valley-rafter in a roof. (See also
quot. 1688.)
Obs.| 1688 Holme Armoury iii. 450/1 Sleepers [are] the two out pieces of the Dormant, which carrieth the Roof to overseil the Gable end, to secure it from Weather. 1703 R. Neve City & C. Purchaser 166 Hips and Sleepers, are almost the same; only the Sleepers lie in the Vallies. 1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. App., Sleeper, in building, a name used for the oblique rafter that lies in a gutter. 1811 Self Instructor 137 In sawing bevil work, as hipps, sleepers, &c. [1842 Gwilt Encycl. Arch. 1049 The old writers called the valley rafters sleepers.] |
9. a. Shipbuilding. A strong internal timber in a ship (see
quots.).
| 1626 Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 9 For clamps, middle bands and sleepers, they be all of 6. inch planke for binding within. 1627 ― Seaman's Gram. ii. 3 The sleepers run before and after on each side the keeleson, on the floore well bolted to the Foot-hookes. 1750 T. R. Blanckley Naval Expos. 153 Sleepers are commonly three Strakes of Foot Waaling thicker than the rest, wrought over the Wrung⁓heads. 1769 Falconer Dict. Mar. (1780), Sleepers, a name formerly given by shipwrights to the thick-stuff placed longitudinally in a ship's hold, opposite to the several scarfs of the timbers. It is now properly applied to the knees, which connect the transoms to the after-timbers on the ship's quarter. 1846 A. Young Naut. Dict. 285 Sleepers, or Engine-bearers,..pieces of timber placed between the keelson or keelson-riders in a steam ship, and the boilers of the steam-engine to form a proper seat for the boilers and machinery. c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 148 Sleepers, pieces of compass timber fayed and bolted upon the transoms and timbers adjoining, withinside, to strengthen the buttock of the ship. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 631 Sleepers..are particularly used in Greenland ships, to strengthen the bows and stern-frame. |
b. Naut. (See
quot. 1882.)
| c 1860 H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 76 The whole tops have the crosstrees, tops, and sleepers, bolted and secured before sending aloft. 1882 Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 8 Sleepers.—Two cross-pieces over the top, to secure it down to the crosstrees and trestletrees. |
10. a. Mil. A piece of timber forming one of the rests of a wooden platform for artillery.
| 1688 Capt. J. S. Fortification 69 Platforms..where Timber and Wood is reasonable, are all made of Plank and Sleepers [and] Joyces to lay them upon. 1702 Milit. Dict. s.v. Battery, It is laid with Planks and Sleepers for them [sc. the cannon] to rest on. 1794 Nelson 9 July in Nicolas Disp. (1845) I. 431 If sleepers can be got, the platforms are undoubtedly much the better for them. 1802 James Milit. Dict. s.v. Platform, Planks of oak or elm..nailed or pinned on..beams, from 4 to 7 inches square, called sleepers. 1879 Man. Artill. Exerc. 82 Where sleepers are used,..the five sleepers are laid at right angles to the hurter. |
b. A piece of timber or other material used to form a support (usually transverse) for the rails of a tramway or railway.
In early railways
longitudinal sleeper or
continuous sleepers were frequently employed.
| 1789 Brand Newcastle II. 687 note, After the road is formed, pieces of timber,..called sleepers, are laid across it... Upon these sleepers other pieces of timber, called rails,..are laid. 1798 Term Rep. VII. 599 To the sleepers or dormant timbers they affixed railways or waggon ways. 1837 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 1/1 (Railways), The rails are..fixed in cast-iron chairs,..which are spiked down to the sleepers. Ibid. 2/1 Longitudinal timber sleepers. 1862 Chambers's Jrnl. Apr. 216 The pony roads..are laid with sleepers, on which rails are placed for the corves to travel over. 1889 G. Findlay Hist. Eng. Rlwy. 46 The permanent way consists of wooden sleepers, laid transversely. |
c. A strong longitudinal beam in a wooden bridge, supporting the transverse planks or logs.
| 1823 Cooper Pioneers xxi, A little bridge, formed of round logs laid loosely on sleepers of pine. 1841 Emerson Ess., Spiritual Laws, One piece of the tree is cut for a weather⁓cock, and one for the sleeper of a bridge. |
d. In general use: A horizontal beam, plank, etc., used to support any weighty body.
| 1848 Layard Nineveh xii. (1850) 290 These were placed upon sleepers or half beams,..laid on the ground parallel to the sculpture. 1879 Man. Artill. Exerc. 407 Skids should be supported on soft ground by laying sleepers of planks or fascines for them to rest on. |
11. In miscellaneous
techn. uses: (see
quots.).
| 1662 Merrett tr. Neri's Art of Glass 364 Sleepers are the great Iron bars crossing smaller ones which hinder the passing of the coals, but give passage to the descent of the ashes. 1854 A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss., Slats, the sleepers or rails to support the bed of a cart. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2206/2 Sleeper (Weaving), the upper part of the heddle of a draw-loom through which the threads pass. 1892 P. H. Emerson Son of Fens xviii. 181 We got inter the lock all right, shut the doors, and hulled up the sleepers to let the water out again. |
12. attrib., as
sleeper-beam,
sleeper-block,
sleeper-wood.
| 1884 Health Exhib. Catal. 93/2 Air Bricks, Sleeper Blocks, &c. 1937 Discovery Dec. 377/2 The house had been divided into rooms by lath and plaster walls, the sleeper-beams for which were let into shallow trenches in the chalk or gravel floors. 1970 Bray & Trump Dict. Archæol. 213/2 In early timber-framed buildings, Roman, Saxon and medieval, the framing was often erected not on a wall foundation but directly on a horizontal beam resting on or slightly recessed into the ground. From its recumbent position this is known as a sleeper beam. |
III. 13. Special combs., as
sleeper agent = sense 2 d above;
sleeper pass N. Amer. Football, a pass unexpectedly involving a player hitherto ignored;
sleeper seat, a reclining seat on which one can sleep during a journey;
sleeper wall Building, a low wall built under a ground floor to support joists where there is no basement; so
sleeper walling.
| 1973 TV Times (Austral.) 3 Feb. 11/1 A *sleeper agent is someone who, over the years, has worked himself up into a position of trust. 1977 H. Kaplan Damascus Cover (1978) v. 54 Operative Sixty-six is a member of the Syrian Parliament. He was a sleeper agent for twelve years. |
| 1954 Sun (Baltimore) 4 Dec. (B ed.) 11/3 The Rams pulled the old corner lot ‘*sleeper’ pass on the first running play of the new season for a touchdown. 1966 Globe Mag. (Toronto) 20 Aug. 7/3 Part of Canadian football folklore is the sleeper pass Keith Spaith threw..in 1948. |
| 1960 Times 11 Feb. 9/5 Whether *sleeper-seats and bunks should be provided. 1980 Sunday Times 21 Sept. 11 (Advt.), TWA's First Class Sleeper-Seats make it easy to lie back and relax peacefully. |
| 1836 Parker Gloss. Archit. (1850) I. 429 The walls which support these timbers are called *sleeper-walls. 1893 Archæologia LIII. 551 The corresponding sleeper wall of the eastern colonnade. 1972 S. Smith Brickwork viii. 37 The sleeper walls supporting the floor are built ‘honey-comb’, that is, with holes left through them to permit through ventilation. |
| 1971 Power Farming Mar. 9/1 The latest aid to producing a 12ft-high stack at Kexby—a 50ft square of *sleeper walling—is illustrated. |
Hence
ˈsleepered a., furnished with sleepers.
| 1894 Times 13 Sept. 8/8 He does not think the accident could possibly have happened if the newly-sleepered portion of the line had become firm. 1900 Daily News 12 Mar. 5/4 The blundering of the mules along the sleepered platform. |
Add:
[I.] [5.] c. A sofa, chair, or other form of seating which can be converted into a bed; a chair-bed or sofa-bed.
orig. U.S.| 1973 Washington Post 13 Jan. a19/5 (Advt.), Kroehler Full Size sleeper. 1974 State (Columbia, S. Carolina) 15 Feb. 11-b/2 (Advt.), Sleeper sofa with mattress, used, $25. 1989 Austin Amer. Statesman 29 Apr. a7/2 (Advt.), With a queen-size sleeper on one side and a relaxing incliner on the other, this sectional is massive yet beautifully styled. 1991 Oxford Star 11 July 3 (Advt.), Examples of sofa-bed bargains..permanent sleeper..{pstlg}429. |
▸
sleeper cell n. a group of sleeper agents (now
esp. of a terrorist organization);
cf. cell n.1 19.
| 1968 N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 25 Aug. 16/2 Government intelligence..soon encounters the well-entrenched *sleeper cell, now roused to very undrowsy action. 1976 B. Gibson Birmingham Bombs viii. 67 The people..talked terrorism but they had never actually been part of an active IRA unit. This was the ‘sleeper’ cell. 2006 Wall St. Jrnl. (Central ed.) 15 May a14/3 Intelligence seeks to identify enemies and their plans before any crime occurs. It searches for terrorist sleeper cells. |
▪ II. ˈsleeper, v. rare.
[f. the n.] 1. trans. To mark (a calf) with a notch in its ear.
| 1910 C. E. Mulford Hopalong Cassidy xii. 79 Either the H2 was sleepering Bar-20 calves for their irons later on, or rustlers were at work. |
2. intr. To travel in a railway sleeping-car.
| 1978 A. Fraser Wild Island xvii. 155 Beauregard was off..on the overnight sleeper to London. ‘Flying visit... Back in the morning. Sleepering both ways.’ |
Hence
ˈsleepering vbl. n.| 1910 C. E. Mulford Hopalong Cassidy xii. 80 ‘I saw a H2 sleeper, up just above th' Bend.’.. ‘Lazy trick, that sleepering.’ |