forty winks

forty winks

A nap or a brief sleep. When you have a baby for the first time, you are suddenly forced to learn how to operate on only forty winks at a time. I'm going to go grab a quick forty winks before everyone starts arriving for the dinner party.
See also: forty, wink
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

forty winks

Fig. a nap; some sleep. I could use forty winks before I have to get to work. I need forty winks before I get started again.
See also: forty, wink
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

forty winks

A brief nap, as in There's just time for forty winks before we have to leave. This expression supposedly was first recorded in 1828 and relies on wink in the sense of "sleep," a usage dating from the 14th century.
See also: forty, wink
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

forty winks

OLD-FASHIONED, INFORMAL
If you have forty winks, you have a short sleep. He always has forty winks after supper.
See also: forty, wink
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

forty winks

a short sleep or nap, especially during the day. informal
This expression dates from the early 19th century, but wink in the sense of ‘a closing of the eyes for sleep’ is found from the late 14th century.
See also: forty, wink
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

forty ˈwinks

(informal) a short sleep, especially during the day: I managed to get forty winks after lunch.
See also: forty, wink
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

forty winks

n. a nap; sleep. (Usually with a quantifier. Either forty or some, a few, a bunch of, etc.) I could use forty winks before I have to get to work.
See also: forty, wink
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

forty winks

A short nap. A wink has meant a sleep since the fourteenth century, when William Langland wrote “Thenne Wakede I of my wink” (Piers Ploughman, 1377). There is an apocryphal story about the origin of forty winks, stemming from an article in Punch (1872), the English humor magazine, about the long and tedious articles of faith required for Church of England clergy (“If a man, after reading through the thirty-nine Articles, were to take forty winks . . .”). However appealing this source, the term had appeared in print nearly a half-century earlier (in Pierce Egan’s Tom and Jerry, 1828), and its true origin has apparently been lost.
See also: forty, wink
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • become pushed for time
  • any time means no time
  • against time
  • against the clock
  • any time
  • (it's) time to run
  • anytime
  • (it's) time to push along
  • (it's) (a)bout time
  • about time
References in periodicals archive
"Forty Winks" frequently rewards the close attention it demands, even if one can't help feeling yet again that Elyot has written a jigsaw puzzle play sometimes more interesting to piece together than it is to watch.
Forty Winks
Sofia Stevi's exhibition is called Turning Forty Winks Into A Decade, a play on the title of that giant picture.
Awakening the senses; A first major UK show for Greek artist Sofia Stevi opens this weekend at Baltic. DAVID WHETSTONE met the artist and asked her what her work is all about
In it he wrote: "A Forty Winks Nap in a horizontal posture is the best preparatory for any extraordinary exertion."
Are you dreaming of a good night's sleep?
There were those who caught their forty winks amid the hullabaloo, but when awake joined in the fanfare with gusto.
Farasan: A rejoicing journey
The rooms, which start from pounds 25 for four hours, are comfortable and surprisingly quiet given their location, and are the perfect place to catch forty winks without the hassle of getting to the terminal on time.
Ideal for an early check-in
Managers, groundsmen, caterers and other staff gave up their beds to catch forty winks in the workplace so they were ready to get to work again on Sunday morning.
Staff's all-night vigil to get the stadium readyfor play-off
THIS is the only companion you'll ever need on your travels for grabbing forty winks. Best described as sleeping against a marshmallow, without the calorific content of course, these Cushties are available in five colours - from www.firebox.com
Testing: In-car systems
ANYONE who names their play Forty Winks has to be either mad, stupid or supremely confident that references to slumber will be avoided in reviews.
No time to sleep in Forty Winks..
"The idea of trying to put a dream onstage is a tantalizing possibility," says Mitchell, who has received less-than-dreamy early reviews for her Royal Court production of Kevin Elyot's "Forty Winks," which opened Nov.
Tate and National talking Strindberg
If you are hungry you can buy snacks, if not you can just catch up on some work or take forty winks and save your appetite until later.
Travel: Where the Beckhams go, tourists follow; Alison Jones enjoys the jet-set lifestyle and goes to browse in the shops of Milan
Unfortunately the ageing process cannot be beaten by a couple of days off with a good book and forty winks. No, Father Time works every day, all day, with alarming perseverance.
WILSON'S WEEK; Winning on points WHY BOXING CAN BE A FORCE FOR GOOD
As Northampton's thrilling promotion pot comes to the boil this afternoon, Peer has been struggling to grab forty winks.
Peer enjoying his nappy days with Northampton
Many initially try to tackle the sleep disorder on their own terms - even taking to narcotics or alcohol in a desperate attempt to catch their share of forty winks. A safer yet more effective route, however, lies in making a few changes in your lifestyle.
Enter Sandman
Officers' fears that he'd been sipping the eggnog early were unfounded, Santa had only been taking forty winks.
BOOZE BEEN A BAD BOY THIS YEAR.. Santa's full of festive spirit
May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest, a well earned forty winks.) -Patsy and Dennis.
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