From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishput somebody/something to sleepput somebody/something to sleepa) MHto give drugs to a sick animal so that it dies without too much pain – used to avoid saying the word ‘kill’ b) informalMIUNCONSCIOUS to make someone unconscious before a medical operation by giving them drugs → sleep
Examples from the Corpus
put somebody/something to sleep• During the first half of the 1980s, these cries actually put people to sleep.• She had hoped to time her nightly visit to the nursery so that he was actually being put down to sleep.• When harvest came, the people could put Hunger to sleep.• Anybody else would have put the mutt to sleep.• He puts you to sleep with those little jabs.• The shadow was flowing rhythmically, putting him to sleep.• Now I tend to find I need something else to put me to sleep. 