ENGLISH
REFERENCE

sleep a wink

idiom
Meaning

To sleep at all.


Origin

disputed origin

From Shakespeare's "Cymbeline" Act III Scene IV.

Examples
SIMPLE

I did not sleep a wink last night.

CONTEXTUAL

The loud music from the party next door meant I did not sleep a wink all night.

COMPLEX

Disturbed by the relentless anxiety of the impending deadline, he tossed and turned until dawn, unable to sleep a wink.

Anchors to
Related idioms8entries
  1. 01

    beauty sleep

    Originally, sleep taken before midnight, on the belief that early sleep hours conduce to beauty and health; now (chiefly humorous), sleep at any time needed by one to stay beautiful; (countable) an instance of such sleep.

  2. 02

    big sleep

    Death.

  3. 03

    cry oneself to sleep

    To cry until or to fall asleep.

  4. 04

    eat, breathe, and sleep

    To devote one's time obsessively to.

  5. 05

    eternal sleep

    Death

  6. 06

    fox sleep

    Feigned sleep while actually alert.

  7. 07

    go to sleep

    To be affected by paresthesia; to go numb.

  8. 08

    in the wink of an eye

    instantaneously, extremely quickly

© 2026 English Reference