English Dictionary

sleeper

noun

Someone who sleeps. / That which lies dormant, as a law. / A spy, saboteur, or terrorist who lives unobtrusively in a community until activated by a prearranged signal; may be part of a sleeper cell.

The baby is a deep sleeper and rarely wakes up during the night.

意味（1）

Someone who sleeps.

I'm a light sleeper: I get woken up by the smallest of sounds.

意味（2）

That which lies dormant, as a law.

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 […]

意味（3）

A spy, saboteur, or terrorist who lives unobtrusively in a community until activated by a prearranged signal; may be part of a sleeper cell.

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.

意味（4）

A small starter earring, worn to prevent a piercing from closing.

意味（5）

A railway sleeping car.

We spent a night on an uncomfortable sleeper between Athens and Vienna.

意味（6）

(martial arts, wrestling) A sleeper hold.

意味（7）

Something that achieves unexpected success after an interval of time.

A box-office bomb when it first came out, the film was a sleeper, becoming much more popular decades after being released.

意味（8）

A goby-like bottom-feeding freshwater fish of the family Odontobutidae.

意味（9）

A nurse shark (family Ginglymostomatidae).

意味（10）

A type of pajama for a person, especially a child, that covers the whole body, including the feet.

Aaron, Devin, and Laura looked so comfy in their sleepers.

意味（11）

(slang) 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.

意味（12）

(slang) A sedative.

At least a couple of weeks since I last slept, / Kept takin' sleepers, but now I keep myself pepped.

意味（13）

(slang, gambling) A bet placed on the gambling table and then forgotten about by the gambler.