forty winks
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Sense 1
Meaning · English
A short sleep or nap.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
So I'll jist hae ma forty winks,
I'm supposed to be resting, but after I'd had forty winks, I felt a lot better, so I toddled over here.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Sense 2
Meaning · English
a short sleep or nap.
Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)
Where it’s used:
Origin
British & Irish English
Sources & notes
Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “forty winks” mean?
A short sleep or nap.
Is “forty winks” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.