| forty winks | |
| —n | |
| informal (functioning as singular or plural) a short light sleep; nap | |
| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
| an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance. |
A nap; a short sleep: “If you're feeling drowsy, take forty winks; I'll wake you when our guests arrive.”
forty winks definition
|
forty winks
A brief nap, as in There's just time for forty winks before we have to leave. This expression supposedly was first recorded in 1828 and relies on wink in the sense of "sleep," a usage dating from the 14th century.