# catch some z's

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/catch-some-zs
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

To sleep.

## Examples

- I need to catch some z's before the exam.
- I usually catch some z's on the train home from work.
- You look exhausted, so go catch some z's while the baby is sleeping.
- After the long flight, all she wanted was to catch some z's.
- If you are feeling tired during the lunch break, you should try to catch some z's in the staff room.
- The hikers decided to set up their tents early so they could catch some z's before the sun went down.
- We have a long drive ahead of us tomorrow, so we really need to catch some z's tonight.
- The weary traveler, having wandered lost through the city until dawn, finally collapsed into a cheap hotel bed to catch some z's.

## Origin

From the convention of using the letter Z in speech bubbles to represent the audible respiratory sounds of a sleeper. The repetition of Zs served as a graphic shorthand for snoring in early twentieth-century comic strips, providing a visual substitute for the act of slumber. This orthographic representation of a snore eventually transitioned from the page into the spoken idiom.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.