forty winks
1
7.2
- noun
- /ˈfɔrti wɪŋks/
- Informal
:
siesta
- "She sounds rested, refreshed; physicians can rebound on forty winks."
- catch forty winks
- take forty winks
Examples
-
He's just catching forty winks.
-
I'll roll up out here and grab forty winks, ride out at first light. " Freeze your ass off when that fire dies down.
Fiction book (2000) -
See if you can get forty winks.
-
"Forty winks on the cold kitchen floor."
Fiction book (1994) -
Coming to think of it, forty winks wouldn't be bad.
-
Ma said, "Why don't you go and catch forty winks?"
Fiction book (1997) -
Alice lay her head down on the table, thought to catch forty winks, and woke with rice crackers stuck to her face to see Rita led out of the bar by the bouncer.
Fiction book (2000) -
After a long day at work, I decided to catch forty winks on the couch.
-
Feeling tired, she lay down for forty winks during her lunch break.
-
He sneaked in a quick forty winks before the meeting started.
Synonyms
371
1.0
A short sleep during the day
6
1.4
A short light sleep taken during the day, often not in bed
5
3.5
A short light sleep during the day not in bed
1
3.7
A short, shallow sleep you wake up easily from
Antonyms
How Long
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun 'wink' can mean a very short period and 'forty' functions as an indefinite multiplicative element, so a learner could plausibly infer an expression for a short period of rest. However, the phrase is idiomatic (using eye-closing metaphorically to mean a brief sleep) and the exact meaning 'short nap' is not strictly compositional or predictable without prior exposure. Therefore it is only partially transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Forty winks may come from the image of taking a few quick eye blinks—winks—with forty used as a playful large number to show a very short rest. So it means 'a short sleep'.