sleeper

noun

• 1a person or animal who is asleep or who sleeps in a specified way:he was a light sleeper, for long periods an insomniac

• 2a thing used for or connected with sleeping, in particular:
• a train carrying sleeping cars: we were waiting for the Inverness-London sleeper [as modifier]:a sleeper train
• a sleeping car, or a berth in one.
• informal a sleeping pill: he gave me tranquillizers in addition to the sleepers I was already on
• (usually sleepers) chiefly North American a sleepsuit for a baby or small child.
• North American a sofa or chair that converts into a bed.

• 3a film, book, play, etc. that eventually achieves unexpected success after initially attracting very little attention: this low-budget, black-and-white American sleeper concerns two brothers [as modifier]: it became one of the sleeper hits of the year
• an antique whose true value goes unrecognized for some time: photographed after it proved to be a sleeper, this Regency table took £8,600 instead of £1,500 as anticipated
• (also sleeper agent) a secret agent who remains inactive for a long period while establishing a secure position: a KGB plot to uncover his sleepers

• 4British a ring or post worn in a pierced ear to keep the hole from closing.

• 5British a wooden or concrete beam laid transversely under railway track to support it.

• 6a stocky fish with mottled coloration which occurs widely in warm seas and fresh water.

  • Dormitator and other genera, family Gobiidae (or Eleotridae): many species. See also cockabully