sandman
UK/ˈsænd.mæn/
sandman noun: a figure that brings sleep and dreams by sprinkling magical sand into people's eyes.
Noun
sandman (plural sandmen)
- A figure that brings sleep and dreams by sprinkling magical sand into people's eyes.
- This then was the Sandman; but what was his occupation, and what was his purpose ? The nursery-maid being applied to, gave a nursery-maid's explanation, that the Sandman was a bad man, who flung sand in the eyes of little children who did not go to bed.1827, “On the Supernatural in Composition; and particularly on the Works of Ernest Theodore William Hoffman”, in Museum of Foreign Literature and Science, volume 11, page 458
- Used as a symbol of the passage of time toward death.
- A seller of sand.
- While I was out, a sandman, who sells scouring sand, which women use to clean the baths with, passed through our street, and called, Any sand ho !1811, Arabian Nights' Entertainments, Consisting of One Thousand and One Stories, Told by the Sultaness of the Indies, Henry Mozley (publ.), page 114.
Proper noun capitalized: Sandman
Sandman (plural Sandmans)
- A surname.
- Alternative letter-case form of sandman (“folkloric figure sprinkling sand into eyes”).
sandman meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
sandman in Hindi
- सैंडमैन
sandman in Tamil
- சாண்ட்மேன்
sandman in Marathi
- figure who brings good sleep and dreams
- सँडमॅन sĕṇḍmĕn
sandman in Urdu
- سینڈ مین, سینڈمین
More languagesFewer languages
- sandman in Bengali
- স্যান্ডম্যান, সেন্ডম্যান
- sandman in Telugu
- శాండ్మన్, శాండ్మ్యాన్
- sandman in Malayalam
- സാൻഡ്മാൻ
- sandman in Kannada
- ಸ್ಯಾಂಡ್ಮ್ಯಾನ್, ಸ್ಯಾಂಡ್ಮನ್
- sandman in Punjabi
- ਸੈਂਡਮੈਨ
- sandman in Gujarati
- સેન્ડમેન, સેન્ડમૅન
- sandman in Odia
- ସାଣ୍ଡମ୍ଯ଼ାନ୍, ସ୍ଯ଼ାଣ୍ଡମ୍ଯ଼ାନ୍, ସାଣ୍ଡମ୍ଯ଼ାନ
- sandman in Nepali
- स्यान्डम्यान, सान्डम्यान, सेन्डम्यान
Forms of sandman
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | sandmen |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Sandmans |
Origin of sandman
From sand + -man. The mythological sense may be from German Sandmann, Sandmännchen, as it is apparently first attested in English in the context of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s novella The Sandman (1816). The German is attested in the relevant sense since at least the mid-18th century.
Questions about sandman
- What does sandman mean?
- Sandman means a figure that brings sleep and dreams by sprinkling magical sand into people's eyes.
- What is sandman in Hindi?
- Sandman in Hindi is सैंडमैन. See Sandman meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is sandman?
- Sandman can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce sandman?
- Sandman is pronounced /ˈsænd.mæn/ (UK).
- What is the plural of sandman?
- The plural of sandman is sandmen.
Words near sandman in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: sandman (page history and authors); Sandman (page history and authors); sandman (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); sandman (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); sandman (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); sandman (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); sandman (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); sandman (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); sandman (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); sandman (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); sandman (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); sandman (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); sandman (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-sandman.ogg.
Cite this entry: “sandman.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sandman. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.