forty winks

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English

Pronunciation

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Noun

forty winks pl (plural only)

  1. (idiomatic) A short sleep, an extra sleep, a nap.
    Synonyms: nap, shut-eye, twenty winks; see also Thesaurus:shut-eye
    As you're so tired, why not try to catch forty winks before you leave?
    • 1922 February, James Joyce, “[]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, , →OCLC:
      [] who evidently a glutton for work, it struck him, was having a quiet forty winks for all intents and purposes on his own private account while Dublin slept.
    • 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Eden Prime:
      Powell: I... sometimes I need a nap to get through my shift. I sneak off behind the crates to grab forty winks where the supervisor can't find me.

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