What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Nap vs Drowse - What's the difference?

nap | drowse | Related terms |

As nouns the difference between nap and drowse

is that nap is a short period of sleep, especially one during the day while drowse is the state of being sleepy and inactive.

As verbs the difference between nap and drowse

is that nap is to have a nap; to sleep for a short period of time, especially during the day while drowse is to be sleepy and inactive also figurative.

nap

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) nappen, from (etyl) ).

Noun

(en noun)
  • A short period of sleep, especially one during the day
  • Synonyms
    * See also
    Derived terms
    * catnap * dirt nap
    See also
    See for collocations of nap

    Verb

    (napp)
  • to have a nap; to sleep for a short period of time, especially during the day
  • to be off one's guard
  • * Hudibras
  • I took thee napping , unprepared.
    The regulators were caught napping by the financial collapse.
    Derived terms
    * catch napping
    Synonyms
    * snooze * doze

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) , from (etyl)

    Noun

    (-)
  • A soft or fuzzy surface on fabric or leather.
  • * 1591 , , by William Shakespeare
  • I tell thee, Jack Cade the clothier means to dress the commonwealth, and turn it, and set a new nap upon it.
  • *1851 ,
  • On his long, gaunt body, he carried no spare flesh, no superfluous beard, his chin having a soft, economical nap' to it, like the worn ' nap of his broad-brimmed hat.
  • * 1939 , (Raymond Chandler), The Big Sleep , Penguin 2011, p. 37:
  • There were low bookshelves, there was a thick pinkish Chinese rug in which a gopher could have spent a week without showing his nose above the nap .

    Verb

    (napp)
  • to form or raise a soft or fuzzy surface on (fabric or leather)
  • Etymology 3

    * From the name of the French emperor Napoleon I of France (Bonaparte)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (British) A type of bet in British horse racing, based on the experts' best tips
  • (uncountable, games) A card game in which players take tricks; properly (Napoleon)
  • Derived terms
    * go nap

    Etymology 4

    possibly Scandanavian, cognate with nab, see Swedish

    Verb

    (napp)
  • (obsolete) to grab; to nab
  • Derived terms
    * kidnap

    Etymology 5

    From (etyl) napper, from .

    Verb

    (napp)
  • (cooking) To cover (something) with a sauce (usually in passive)
  • * 2006 , Wayne Gisslen, Mary Ellen Griffin, Professional Cooking for Canadian Chefs? :
  • Vanilla ice cream topped with a poached or canned pear half, napped with chocolate sauce, and garnished with toasted sliced almonds.

    drowse

    English

    Noun

    (-)
  • The state of being sleepy and inactive.
  • in a drowse

    Verb

    (drows)
  • To be sleepy and inactive (also figurative).
  • * 1902 , , Moon-Face :
  • Under the aching noonday glare, when the green things drooped and the birds withdrew to the depths of the forest, and all nature drowsed , his great "Ha! ha!" and "Ho! ho!" rose up to the sky and challenged the sun.
  • * 1973 July, Melville Bell Grosvenor, Homeward with Ulysses'', published in ''National Geographic , volume 144, number 1:
  • In August the cicadas chorused, and the dusty olive trees drowsed in the sun.
  • To nod off; to fall asleep.
  • To advance drowsily.
  • * 1873', , ''The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today'' (' 1915 republication), page 285:
  • the wary tadpole returned from exile, the bullfrog resumed his ancient song, the tranquil turtle sunned his back upon bank and log and drowsed his grateful life away as in the old sweet days of yore.
  • * 1966 , John Cunyus Hodges, William Congreve, the man: a biography from new sources , page 25:
  • Congreve held fast to the Greek poets, but otherwise seems to have drowsed his way through Trinity studies.
  • * 2002 , Marsha Ward, The Man from Shenandoah , page 55
  • Ida had kept him awake while he drowsed his way up the old King's Trace in eastern Missouri, feverish and weak.
  • * 2008 , Sarah Mayberry, Cruise Control'', published in ''Best of Makeovers Bundle , page 209:
  • They were led into a large, attractive room with twin massage beds, and welcomed by their masseurs—in Balinese tradition, he had a male masseur, Anna a female. He drowsed his way through the first half hour of the treatment,
  • To make heavy with sleepiness or imperfect sleep; to make dull or stupid.
  • (Milton)

    Derived terms

    * drowsy * drowsily

    Anagrams

    * * *