SLEEPER

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does sleeper mean? 

• SLEEPER (noun)
  The noun SLEEPER has 9 senses:

1. a rester who is sleeping

2. a spy or saboteur or terrorist planted in an enemy country who lives there as a law-abiding citizen until activated by a prearranged signal

3. an unexpected achiever of success

4. one of the cross braces that support the rails on a railway track

5. a passenger car that has berths for sleeping

6. pajamas with feet; worn by children

7. a piece of furniture that can be opened up into a bed

8. tropical fish that resembles a goby and rests quietly on the bottom in shallow water

9. an unexpected hit

  Familiarity information: SLEEPER used as a noun is familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SLEEPER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A rester who is sleeping

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

sleeper; slumberer

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

rester (a person who rests)

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

dreamer (someone who is dreaming)

Rip van Winkle (a person who sleeps a lot)

sleeping beauty (a person who is sleeping soundly)

noctambulist; sleepwalker; somnambulist (someone who walks about in their sleep)

snorer (someone who snores while sleeping)

somniloquist (someone who talks while asleep)

Derivation:

sleep (be asleep)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A spy or saboteur or terrorist planted in an enemy country who lives there as a law-abiding citizen until activated by a prearranged signal

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

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

diversionist; saboteur; wrecker (someone who commits sabotage or deliberately causes wrecks)

spy; undercover agent ((military) a secret agent hired by a state to obtain information about its enemies or by a business to obtain industrial secrets from competitors)

terrorist (a radical who employs terror as a political weapon; usually organizes with other terrorists in small cells; often uses religion as a cover for terrorist activities)

Domain category:

act of terrorism; terrorism; terrorist act (the calculated use of violence (or the threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear)

Holonyms ("sleeper" is a member of...):

sleeper nest (a nest of sleepers awaiting a prearranged signal)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An unexpected achiever of success

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

the winner was a true sleeper--no one expected him to get it

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

achiever; succeeder; success; winner (a person with a record of successes)

Sense 4

Meaning:

One of the cross braces that support the rails on a railway track

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

crosstie; railroad tie; sleeper; tie

Context example:

the British call a railroad tie a sleeper

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

brace; bracing (a structural member used to stiffen a framework)

Holonyms ("sleeper" is a part of...):

railroad; railroad track; railway (a line of track providing a runway for wheels)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A passenger car that has berths for sleeping

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

sleeper; sleeping car; wagon-lit

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

carriage; coach; passenger car (a railcar where passengers ride)

Meronyms (parts of "sleeper"):

drawing room (a private compartment on a sleeping car with three bunks and a toilet)

roomette (a small private compartment for one on a sleeping car)

Derivation:

sleep (be able to accommodate for sleeping)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Pajamas with feet; worn by children

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

jammies; pajama; pj's; pyjama ((usually plural) loose-fitting nightclothes worn for sleeping or lounging; have a jacket top and trousers)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A piece of furniture that can be opened up into a bed

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

article of furniture; furniture; piece of furniture (furnishings that make a room or other area ready for occupancy)

Derivation:

sleep (be able to accommodate for sleeping)

Sense 8

Meaning:

Tropical fish that resembles a goby and rests quietly on the bottom in shallow water

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

sleeper; sleeper goby

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

percoid; percoid fish; percoidean (any of numerous spiny-finned fishes of the order Perciformes)

Holonyms ("sleeper" is a member of...):

Eleotridae; family Eleotridae (sleepers)

Sense 9

Meaning:

An unexpected hit

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

that movie was the sleeper of the summer

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

bang; hit; smash; smasher; strike (a conspicuous success)

Domain usage:

figure; figure of speech; image; trope (language used in a figurative or nonliteral sense)

 Context examples 

I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The scientists then compared genetic data between the long and short sleepers and identified 126 differences among 80 genes that appear to be associated with sleep duration.

(Researchers explore complex genetic network behind sleep duration, National Institutes of Health)

People who were both long nappers and long sleepers were 85% more likely to later have a stroke than people who were moderate sleepers and nappers.

(Regular extended sleep increases risk of stroke, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

I am a light sleeper, and so is my wife.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They had heard nothing during the night, for they are both sound sleepers.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The sleeper stirred; a thrill of terror ran through me.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

My foot struck something yielding—it was a sleeper's leg; and he turned and groaned, but without awaking.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The participants, aged 35-74 years, had no history of cancer or cardiovascular disease and were not shift workers, daytime sleepers, or pregnant when the study began.

(Sleeping with artificial light at night associated with weight gain in women, National Institutes of Health)

“Holmes!” in the insistent tone of one who awakens a sleeper.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She was obliged to step over the bodies of the sleepers, who were lying close together, and every moment she was filled with renewed dread lest she should awaken them.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)