forty winks
A short sleep, an extra sleep, a nap.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“I need forty winks before dinner.”
“The baby was finally asleep, so the tired mother grabbed forty winks on the sofa.”
“Between shifts at the hospital, the young doctor would steal forty winks in the on-call room, her coat folded beneath her head for a pillow.”
disputed origin
From forty + winks, possibly referring to a nap supposedly lasting as long as it takes a person to wink (i.e., blink) forty times.
- 01
back forty
The most remote or inaccessible part of any place.
- 02
forty minutes of hell
The NCAA strategy of playing a suffocating full-court press and aggressive offense for the entirety of a game.
- 03
in the wink of an eye
instantaneously, extremely quickly
- 04
north forty
Farms, ranches, or agricultural land collectively.
- 05
nudge nudge wink wink
A phrase used to hint that the speaker is euphemistically referring to something else.
- 06
plough the back forty
To engage in sexual intercourse.
- 07
sleep a wink
To sleep at all.
- 08
tip the wink
To give (somebody) a hint or suggestion, as if by a wink; to ask or tell surreptitiously.
Last updated August 10, 2026