sleepers

Noun

sleeper (plural sleepers)

1. Someone who sleeps.
   • I'm a light sleeper: I get woken up by the smallest of sounds.
2. That which lies dormant, as a law.
   • Therefore let penal laws, if they have been sleepers of long, or if they be grown unfit for the present time, be by wise judged confined in the execution […]1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Judicature”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC
3. A spy, saboteur, or terrorist who lives unobtrusively in a community until activated by a prearranged signal; may be part of a sleeper cell.
   • We are up against the pros; and pros who have been involved in this kind of activity for many years. […] The public apathy today is disturbing — few realize, Mr. Chairman, that there are sleepers in this country and we know that they are able to manipulate at will behind the scenes.1969, United States Congress, Departments of Treasury and Post Office and Executive Office Appropriations for 1970: Hearings, (91st Congress, First Session, parts 2-3), page 479

   Synonyms:

   sleeper agent

4. A small starter earring, worn to prevent a piercing from closing.
   • His skull earring had been replaced by a small gold sleeper. […] Fiona, who also had pierced ears, remarked on his sleeper. “Doesn’t Wilton allow pierced ears?” she asked. “No way!” said Leslie. “Rules about everything. But I wanted to keep my options open, as you might say. No one’s made me take...1984, Diana Wynne Jones, Fire and Hemlock
5. A railway sleeping car.
   • We spent a night on an uncomfortable sleeper between Athens and Vienna.
6. A sleeper hold.
   • Detailed floral stripe on sofas, sleepers and loveseats with correlating provincial print on double ruffle trim.1980, Montgomery Ward, “‘Country Charm’ slipcovers and all the important accessories”, in Fall & Winter ’80, Chicago, Ill., →OCLC, page 1278, column 1

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