The Collaborative International Dictionary
Sleep \Sleep\, n. [AS. sl[=ae]p; akin to OFries. sl[=e]p, OS.
sl[=a]p, D. slaap, OHG. sl[=a]f, G. schlaf, Goth. sl[=e]ps.
See Sleep, v. i.]
A natural and healthy, but temporary and periodical,
suspension of the functions of the organs of sense, as well
as of those of the voluntary and rational soul; that state of
the animal in which there is a lessened acuteness of sensory
perception, a confusion of ideas, and a loss of mental
control, followed by a more or less unconscious state. ``A
man that waketh of his sleep.''
--Chaucer.
O sleep, thou ape of death.
--Shak.
Note: Sleep is attended by a relaxation of the muscles, and the absence of voluntary activity for any rational objects or purpose. The pulse is slower, the respiratory movements fewer in number but more profound, and there is less blood in the cerebral vessels. It is susceptible of greater or less intensity or completeness in its control of the powers.
Sleep of plants (Bot.), a state of plants, usually at night, when their leaflets approach each other, and the flowers close and droop, or are covered by the folded leaves.
Syn: Slumber; repose; rest; nap; doze; drowse.
Usage examples of "sleep of plants".
The Chickweed is also an instance of what is termed the 'Sleep of Plants,' for every night the leaves approach each other, so that their upper surfaces fold over the tender buds of the new shoots, and the uppermost pair but one of the leaves at the end of the stalk are furnished with longer leafstalks than the others, so that they can close upon the terminating pair and protect the tip of the shoot.