# fall asleep

Pronunciation: say "fawl uh-SLEEP" US /ˌfɔl əˈslip/, UK /ˌfɔːl əˈsliːp/

## Idiom

1. To pass from being awake into sleep; to start sleeping.
   - Simple: To go to sleep after being awake.
   - _Many people can't fall asleep after drinking coffee in the evening._
   - _By the time the movie ended, half the audience had fallen asleep._
2. Of a body part, to go numb or tingle with the prickling feeling of pins and needles.
   - Simple: To go numb and tingly, used about a body part such as a leg.
   - _If I sit cross-legged for too long, my legs fall asleep._
   - _Halfway through the flight his left foot had fallen asleep, and he limped to the restroom._
3. A gentle, poetic way of saying to die, often seen in the wording on gravestones. *(literary)*
   - Simple: A gentle way of saying to die, often written on gravestones.
   - _Mourners prayed for all who fall asleep in hope of the resurrection._
   - _The inscription on the old headstone reads, "Fell asleep in Jesus, May 4, 1887."_

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/fall-asleep (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).