Vocabulary related to sleep in English

Sleeping is one of life's pleasures. After a busy day our body is eager to get into bed and get a good night's sleep so that it wakes up the next morning with energy.

You can sleep well, badly, soundly or deeply, peacefully, uneasily (because you are worried about something) or you can sleep like a log.

Some people have light sleep and wake up easily to any noise or movement, while others sleep heavily and not even a bomb wakes them up.

When we go to bed, we may be so tired that we fall asleep right away, in other words, we may go out like a light. But sometimes we can't get to sleep and have to resort to a popular remedy like counting sheep.

Once we are fast asleep we may talk in our sleep or we may be sleepwalkers and give more than one scare to those who live with us. Sometimes, when something is worrying us, we can't sleep and we toss and turn, we wake up and get back to sleep. Sometimes, when this happens, we can't sleep a wink all night.

Then there is that time of day, usually after lunch, when we feel/get/are sleepy and feel like taking/having a nap or a catnap. Maybe we haven't slept well or are tired and want to have forty winks or catch some Zs, this last expression is most commonly in American English.

Many of us also love, on a Saturday or Sunday morning to get up late (have a lie-in/lie in/sleep in/sleep late), especially if we have stayed up late watching a movie, talking to our friends... We have to be careful if we have something planned for the next morning not to oversleep and arrive late to our appointment.

Do you wear a sleep mask? Do you go to bed with the chickens (early in the morning)? Do you have trouble sleeping?

Apart from the vocabulary related to sleep, there are also phrasal verbs and expressions containing the word "sleep". Let's take a look at some of them:

1. Sleep on it. To postpone a decision until the next day in order to have more time to consider it.
I can’t decide what to do right now. Let me sleep on it.

2. Sleep tight! An expression usually said to children when they go to bed to tell them you hope they sleep well.
Good night sweetie, sleep tight!

3. Sleep it off. To sleep in order to get rid of the unpleasant feeling someone has after drinking too much alcohol.
He had a few too many last night and now he’s sleeping it off.

4. Sleep over. To sleep at a friend's house. Usually children do that.
Can I sleep over at Laura’s house next Saturday?

5. Sleep through. To be able to continue sleeping despite the noise around.
How come can he sleep through all this noise?

6. To sleep. To have enough space or beds for a particular number of people.
The apartment we have in the mountains can sleep six.

7. To sleep rough. To sleep outside, usually in uncomfortable conditions, because of lack of money or other reasons.
After the earthquake, hundreds of people had to sleep rough for several nights.

8. To lose sleep over something. To worry about something.
I wouldn't lose sleep over this issue. You'll surely find a way to resolve it.

9. Let sleeping dogs lie. To deliberately avoid bringing up a subject in order not to cause an argument.
I wouldn't bring up the subject of money again. It's best to let sleeping dogs lie.

10. To be asleep at the switch. Used when you don't pay attention to a situation or something you are in charge of.
Many politicians are asleep at the switch when it comes to seeing the real needs of the people.

If you know any more expressions or vocabulary related to this topic, do not hesitate to put them in the comments.