- Sleep of plants
- Sleep Sleep, n. [AS. sl[=ae]p; akin to OFries. sl[=e]p, OS.
sl[=a]p, D. slaap, OHG. sl[=a]f, G. schlaf, Goth. sl[=e]ps.
See {Sleep}, v. i.]
A natural and healthy, but temporary and periodical,
suspension of the functions of the organs of sense, as well
as of those of the voluntary and rational soul; that state of
the animal in which there is a lessened acuteness of sensory
perception, a confusion of ideas, and a loss of mental
control, followed by a more or less unconscious state. ``A
man that waketh of his sleep.'' --Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
O sleep, thou ape of death. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
Note: Sleep is attended by a relaxation of the muscles, and the absence of voluntary activity for any rational objects or purpose. The pulse is slower, the respiratory movements fewer in number but more profound, and there is less blood in the cerebral vessels. It is susceptible of greater or less intensity or completeness in its control of the powers. [1913 Webster]
{Sleep of plants} (Bot.), a state of plants, usually at night, when their leaflets approach each other, and the flowers close and droop, or are covered by the folded leaves. [1913 Webster]
Syn: Slumber; repose; rest; nap; doze; drowse. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
