forty winks

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

We probably all know about counting sheep, or letting sleeping dogs lie, but the facts about forty winks in the animal kingdom are still subject to debate.

From BBC • Mar. 3, 2014

Then I managed to get forty winks or so of sleep around sunrise.

From "The World According to Humphrey" by Betty G. Birney

“Can’t you let a fellow catch forty winks without sending out the riot squad?”

From Swamp Island by Wirt, Mildred A. (Mildred Augustine)

“I mean those two chaps that caught me fast asleep under Paul’s rug on the back seat, taking forty winks when I ought to have kept wide awake.”

From The Auto Boys' Vacation by Braden, James A. (James Andrew)

Then, just as I was thinking about forty winks, up spoke an old chap in one corner, grey-bearded, sunburnt, and attired in dungarees, grey woollen shirt and patched coat.

From From Chart House to Bush Hut Being the Record of a Sailor's 7 Years in the Queensland Bush by Bryde, Charles W. L.