From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsleep roughsleep roughBritish EnglishSLEEP to sleep outside with nothing to protect you from the weather, especially because you have no home to live in the number of people sleeping rough on the street → rough
Examples from the Corpus
sleep rough• Others are left to wander or sleep rough.• She lost precious belongings in her days of sleeping rough.• And he's often had to sleep rough.• Now it's in urgent need of blankets to lend to those forced to sleep rough.• Hundreds of homeless people have to sleep rough every night in London.• A chap who had slept rough for more than 20 years was invited to offer ideas on how it should be run.• How long he'd been sleeping rough no one could tell.• As a result we have seen a sharp fall in the numbers who sleep rough on our streets.• Many people in neighbouring buildings were also hurt as were a number of beggars sleeping rough on the pavement.• The number of teenagers sleeping rough on the streets is on the increase.• I was forced to sleep rough that night in a disused warehouse.sleep roughsleep roughBritish EnglishSLEEPHOME to sleep outdoors in uncomfortable conditions, especially because you have no money → sleepExamples from the Corpus
sleep rough• And he's often had to sleep rough.• Now it's in urgent need of blankets to lend to those forced to sleep rough.• Others are left to wander or sleep rough.• She lost precious belongings in her days of sleeping rough.• A chap who had slept rough for more than 20 years was invited to offer ideas on how it should be run.• How long he'd been sleeping rough no one could tell.• As a result we have seen a sharp fall in the numbers who sleep rough on our streets.• Many people in neighbouring buildings were also hurt as were a number of beggars sleeping rough on the pavement. 