Word family noun sleep sleeper sleepiness sleeplessness adjective asleep sleepless sleepy verb sleep adverb sleepily sleeplessly
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishasleepa‧sleep /əˈsliːp/ ●●● S2 adjective [not before noun] 1 SLEEPsleeping OPP awake Quiet! The baby’s asleep.fast/sound asleep (=sleeping deeply)2 → fall asleep3 → half asleep4 MIan arm or leg that is asleep has been in one position for too long, so you cannot feel it properly5 → asleep at the wheel/switch → go to sleep at sleep2(3)Examples from the Corpus
asleep• At 7: 30 Celestine, dripping with sweat, returned to the bed where Stafford was still deep asleep.• But I was in the back of the wagon once and fell asleep.• He was lying under his shirt, asleep.• It drove him mad to think of a stranger standing next to our beds at night, and him asleep.• He roused Alexander White, 69, who was asleep in a first-floor flat filled with heavy smoke.• They were both asleep in moments.• The child was sound asleep now, his tiny eyelashes resting on rounded cheeks.• Kelly was asleep on the sofa.• She did not fall asleep until daybreak.fast/sound asleep• And she was screaming for her husband and he was sound asleep.• As I leave the car, I see that the little boy is now fast asleep.• From the sound of his rhythmic breathing, Loretta could tell he was fast asleep.• He stood on the moonlit grass, swaying slightly, holding himself upright but still fast asleep.• Most others are still sound asleep.• Then I fell sound asleep again.• She would have been fast asleep already, but for the Admiral's early-morning call.• He had intended to visit Meryl, who was probably fast asleep by now. 