# twenty winks

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/twenty-winks
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

A very short sleep, half as long as forty winks.

## Examples

- I am tired and need twenty winks.
- The long drive made me sleepy, so I pulled over to take twenty winks before continuing.
- Exhausted from the long journey, the traveler found a quiet corner in the station to steal twenty winks before the final train arrived.

## Origin

Modeled after forty winks, from the humorous notion that if a short nap is forty winks then a very short nap is twenty winks (half that amount). (disputed)

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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.