nap

A very brief but restful period of sleep. I'm going to try to squeeze in a cat nap before my next shift starts, or else I'll be feeling sluggish for the entire evening.

A state of death or permanent cessation. He's got a lot of nerve to talk to me like that! I think he's looking for a dirt nap! The popular television show now appears headed for a dirt nap following the exit of its lead star.

To have five victories or scores. The phrase refers to "nap," a card game in which players take tricks after being dealt five cards. The other team's improved defense in the last part of the game is the only reason Smith didn't go nap.

slang To be dead (and buried). A: "And what about the witnesses?" B: "Don't worry about them, boss—they're all having dirt naps." I really don't care what kind of box they put me in when I go to have my dirt nap.

obsolete To not favor or particularly care for. Primarily heard in Australia. I don't go nap on such frivolity myself. I have always preferred order and discipline.

slang To be dead (and buried). A: "And what about the witnesses?" B: "Don't worry about them, boss—they're all taking dirt naps." I really don't care what kind of box they put me in when I go to take my dirt nap.

To sleep for a short period of time separate from one's primary period of sleeping, especially in the middle of the day. I think you should go take a nap. You look like you're about to fall asleep standing up! I haven't taken naps since I was a child.

to come upon someone who is unprepared; to surprise someone. (See also asleep at the switch.) The enemy soldiers caught our army napping. The thieves caught the security guard napping. I didn't expect you so soon. You caught me off balance. The teacher asked a trick question and caught me up short. The robbers caught Ann off balance and stole her purse.

Sl. to die and be buried. I don't want to end up taking a dirt nap during this operation. Isn't Tom a little young to take a dirt nap?

to have a brief period of sleep. I took a short nap just after lunch. The baby takes a long nap each afternoon.

Surprise, take unawares. This term is often used in the passive, as in The United States was really caught napping the day the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. It originated in the mid-1500s as to be taken napping. Also see under off guard.

If someone is caught napping, they suffer a disadvantage by not being prepared for something when it happens. The security services were clearly caught napping and their response was therefore inadequate. European firms have been caught napping. As a result, they barely control one-tenth of the world market. Note: `Napping' means the same as sleeping or dozing.

To be surprised off guard, taken unawares. This term began life in the sixteenth century as to be taken napping. “Take Nappynge as Mosse toke his Meare” was the title of a 1569 ballad. The term was included in John Ray’s proverb collection of 1670, in which Ray commented, “Who this Moss was is not very material to know. I suppose some such man might find his mare dead, and taking her to be only asleep, might say, ‘Have I caught you napping?’” Yet Shakespeare and other sixteenth-century writers used the phrase in the modern sense of taking someone unawares; “Nay, I have ta’en you napping, gentle love,” Tranio says to Bianca (The Taming of the Shrew, 4.2).