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Glite Dictionary
😴 To start sleeping 💻 To enter sleep mode
to fall asleep

to fall asleep

1 3.0
To go into low-power mode automatically when a device is idle
  • phrasal verb
  • /fɔl əˈslip/
  • Specialized
translation icon : entrar en modo de suspensión
  • If you haven't made $1 million baring all by the time you're 18 or sexually repressed, and if you go to a movie and anything less than $3 million worth of automobiles are not destroyed, you'll probably fall asleep.

Examples

  • I fell asleep and dreamed of trees too tall to fit into any dome, rooted unprotected in the red dirt of Mars: redwoods in red flopsand, lofting a hundred meters, tended by naked children.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Edge Inspect allows you to remotely control your devices by keeping them awake so they don't fall asleep, keeping them on the same URL that you are browsing to in Chrome, allowing you to clear the cache and refresh all of your connected devices with one click, and take screenshots of all your devices with one click.

    Blog text (22)

  • Right now, it looks like your foot fell asleep.

    North of the 10 (2022)

  • If they could turn it on its back, it'll fall asleep.

    Alligator (1980)

  • - That man has one security guard that falls asleep eating chicken, Dre.

    RUN NIXON (2023)

  • We might be tempted to disregard his figurative decease, since an activity as common as falling asleep might be considered a metaphoric death.

    Academic text (1995)

  • Insomnia, or the inability to fall asleep, is a medical disorder that needs to be cured lest the patient suffers more serious conditions that may interfere with his or her normal functioning.

    Blog text (26)

  • After being inactive for 15 minutes, my laptop will automatically fall asleep to save energy.

  • If you don't touch your tablet for a while, it will fall asleep and require a button press to wake up.

  • To prolong battery life, many smartphones fall asleep when not being used for a certain time.

Synonyms

to go to sleep
vsto fall asleep
  • Specialized
73 3.1

To enter a low-power state that pauses activity to save energy

refers to programs and apps entering low-power automatically after inactivity
to sleep
vsto fall asleep
  • Specialized
46 4.8

To put a device into a low-power state so it uses less energy

is used for automatic entry after inactivity rather than manual action
to put to sleep
vsto fall asleep
  • Specialized
1 3.4

Make an electronic device use little power so it can start again quickly

happens automatically after inactivity instead of by deliberate placement

Antonyms

to wake up
∞ 1.0

To stop sleeping or make someone else stop sleeping

to activate
715 3.6

To make a machine, system, or account start working

How Active

to idle
1 3.2
to fall asleep
  • Specialized
1 3.0
to hibernate
  • Specialized
1 6.3
to shut down
541 2.9

Surface Forms

fall asleep infinitive
falling asleep present participle
falls asleep third person singular
fell asleep past
fallen asleep past participle

Morphology

fall + asleep

The meaning is directly compositional: 'fall' (to go into) combined with 'asleep' (in a state of sleep) yields 'become asleep/enter a sleep state', so learners who know both words can infer the sense. The pattern verb + state adjective meaning 'become X' is common cross-linguistically and the metaphorical extension to devices ('enter a low-power sleep state') remains transparent.

Etymology

Fall asleep is also used for devices and programs: when a laptop is not used it 'falls asleep' into a low-energy 'sleep' state, like it closes its eyes to save power. That's why it means 'to enter a low-power or sleep state'.