Library / English Dictionary

SLUMBER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A dormant or quiescent state

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("slumber" is a kind of...):

dormancy; quiescence; quiescency (a state of quiet (but possibly temporary) inaction)

Derivation:

slumberous; slumbrous (quiet and tranquil)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A natural and periodic state of rest during which consciousness of the world is suspended

Example:

calm as a child in dreamless slumber

Synonyms:

sleep; slumber

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("slumber" is a kind of...):

physical condition; physiological condition; physiological state (the condition or state of the body or bodily functions)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "slumber"):

sleeping (the state of being asleep)

nonrapid eye movement; nonrapid eye movement sleep; NREM; NREM sleep; orthodox sleep (a recurring sleep state during which rapid eye movements do not occur and dreaming does not occur; accounts for about 75% of normal sleep time)

paradoxical sleep; rapid eye movement; rapid eye movement sleep; REM; REM sleep (a recurring sleep state during which dreaming occurs; a state of rapidly shifting eye movements during sleep)

shut-eye; shuteye (informal term for sleep)

Derivation:

slumber (be asleep)

slumbery (inclined to or marked by drowsiness)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Be asleep

Synonyms:

catch some Z's; kip; log Z's; sleep; slumber

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "slumber" is one way to...):

rest (be at rest)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "slumber"):

bundle; practice bundling (sleep fully clothed in the same bed with one's betrothed)

catch a wink; catnap; nap (take a siesta)

sleep in; sleep late (sleep later than usual or customary)

hibernate; hole up (sleep during winter)

aestivate; estivate (sleep during summer)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue slumber

Derivation:

slumber (a natural and periodic state of rest during which consciousness of the world is suspended)

slumberer (a rester who is sleeping)

Credits

 Context examples: 

It is an inconceivable thing, but even our special war tax of fifty million, which one would think made our purpose as clear as if we had advertised it on the front page of the Times, has not roused these people from their slumbers.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Alleyne, weary with the unwonted excitements of the day, was soon in a deep slumber broken only by fleeting visions of twittering legs, cursing beggars, black robbers, and the many strange folk whom he had met at the Pied Merlin.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Her sister, however, still sanguine, was willing to attribute the change to nothing more than the fatigue of having sat up to have her bed made; and carefully administering the cordials prescribed, saw her, with satisfaction, sink at last into a slumber, from which she expected the most beneficial effects.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

But soon the anchor was short up; soon it was hanging dripping at the bows; soon the sails began to draw, and the land and shipping to flit by on either side; and before I could lie down to snatch an hour of slumber the HISPANIOLA had begun her voyage to the Isle of Treasure.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The appearance of the little sitting-room as they entered, was tranquillity itself; Mrs. Bates, deprived of her usual employment, slumbering on one side of the fire, Frank Churchill, at a table near her, most deedily occupied about her spectacles, and Jane Fairfax, standing with her back to them, intent on her pianoforte.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

For a time I listened to the clamour in the steerage and marvelled upon the love which had come to me; but my sleep on the Ghost had become most healthful and natural, and soon the songs and cries died away, my eyes closed, and my consciousness sank down into the half-death of slumber.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Came a beautiful fall day, warm and languid, palpitant with the hush of the changing season, a California Indian summer day, with hazy sun and wandering wisps of breeze that did not stir the slumber of the air.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

That night I never thought to sleep; but a slumber fell on me as soon as I lay down in bed.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

And the Professor, much eased in his mind, settled down to his slumber once more.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I fell into a dull slumber before the fire, without losing my consciousness, either of the uproar out of doors, or of the place in which I was.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)