Phrase guide

sleep under the same bridge

verb · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

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1

verb

Meaning 1

To be formally, but not actually, equal under the law, due to circumstances being ignored.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

An allusion to “The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under the bridge, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread”, a translation from the French "La majestueuse égalité des lois, qui interdit au riche comme au pauvre de coucher sous les ponts, de mendier dans les rues et de voler du pain", Le Lys rouge, The Red Lily, 1894.