to sleep on a matter
Preserved but no longer current.
To let a decision on it stand over till to-morrow. Sleeper, The. Epimenides, the Greek poet, is said to have fallen asleep in a cave when a boy, and not to have waked for fifty-seven years, when he found himself possessed of all wisdom.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to sleep on a matter” mean?
To let a decision on it stand over till to-morrow. Sleeper, The. Epimenides, the Greek poet, is said to have fallen asleep in a cave when a boy, and not to have waked for fifty-seven years, when he found himself possessed of all wisdom.
Is “to sleep on a matter” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.