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Glite Dictionary
😴 To start sleeping 💻 To enter standby
to go to sleep

to go to sleep

73 3.1
To enter a low-power state that pauses activity to save energy
  • phrasal verb
  • /ɡoʊ tə sliːp/
  • Specialized
translation icon : entrar en modo de suspensión
  • The device will go to sleep automatically after being inactive for 10 minutes.

Examples

  • To conserve battery life, my tablet will go to sleep if I don't touch it for a while.

  • After finishing his work for the day, the computer decided to go to sleep to save energy.

  • You need to go back to sleep.

    Flightplan (2005)

  • I lay down again and tried to go back to sleep.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • But she just turned over and went back to sleep.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • I'm going back to sleep.

    Americana (2025)

  • I heard it, dismissed it, and went back to sleep.

    Academic text (2015)

  • Then she went back to sleep, content that nothing had slipped away from her.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • Why don't you just go back to sleep?

    Midnight Run (1988)

  • Go back to sleep, there's no need to feel blue.

    Shelby Oaks (2025)

Synonyms

to sleep
vsto go to sleep
  • Specialized
46 4.8

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

is often automatic after inactivity rather than being manually initiated
to put to sleep
vsto go to sleep
  • Specialized
1 3.4

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

usually occurs automatically after inactivity rather than being placed by someone
to fall asleep
vsto go to sleep
  • Specialized
1 3.0

To go into low-power mode automatically when a device is idle

is often automatic after inactivity rather than started by a person

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 Idle

to shut down
541 2.9
to hibernate
  • Specialized
1 6.3
to go to sleep
  • Specialized
73 3.1

Surface Forms

go to sleep infinitive
went to sleep past
gone to sleep past participle
going to sleep present participle
goes to sleep third person singular

Morphology

go + to + sleep

The meaning is directly derivable from combining 'go' (to come to be in a particular state) with 'sleep' (a state of suspended activity); a B1 learner who knows those words would infer 'go to sleep' means to enter a sleep state. Although used metaphorically for devices, this extension follows the same transparent semantic logic and is common cross-linguistically, so learners can readily understand it.

Etymology

Go to sleep (for devices) comes from comparing machines to people: when a device is not used it goes into 'sleep' by stopping work and saving power, so the phrase means 'enter a low-power state'.