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What is the difference between asleep and sleeping?

asleep | sleeping |

As adjectives the difference between asleep and sleeping

is that asleep is in a state of sleep; also, broadly, resting while sleeping is asleep.

As a verb sleeping is

present participle of lang=en.

As a noun sleeping is

the state or act of being asleep.

asleep

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • In a state of sleep; also, broadly, resting.
    • I was asleep when you called.
    Never disturb a man asleep .
  • (slang) Inattentive.
    • How could you miss that? Were you asleep ?
  • (of a body part) Having a numb or prickling sensation accompanied by a degree of unresponsiveness.
    • My arm fell asleep . You know, like pins and needles.
  • * 2003 , Norma L. Bronoski, Nuns Don't Dance ,
    • Louisa sat in the car crying, until her foot fell asleep . She shook her foot violently, afraid the numbness would turn to frostbite.
  • (euphemistic) dead

    • Usage notes

    * Not used in attributive position.

    Synonyms

    * dormant

    Antonyms

    * awake

    Related terms

    * asleep at the switch

    See also

    * pins and needles

    Anagrams

    *

    sleeping

    English

    Verb

    (head)
  • *{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
    • , chapter=20 citation , passage=‘No. I only opened the door a foot and put my head in. The street lamps shine into that room. I could see him. He was all right. Sleeping like a great grampus. Poor, poor chap.’}}

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Asleep.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author= Ian Sample
    • , volume=189, issue=6, page=34, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains , passage=Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits.  ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.}}
  • Used for sleep; used to produce sleep.

    • Derived terms

    * sleeping bag * Sleeping Beauty * sleeping car * sleeping hours * sleeping pill * sleeping room

    Noun

  • the state or act of being asleep.
  • * 1995 , Angela Carter, The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories (page 144)
    • there are no words to describe the way she negotiated the abyss between her dreams, those wakings strange as her sleepings .

    Anagrams

    * peelings ----