Phrase guide

twenty winks

noun · 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.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A very short sleep.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic, plural, plural-only

Examples

  • Near-synonyms: forty winks; see also Thesaurus:shut-eye

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: forty winks, cark, doss, rest, sleep, shut-eye

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Modeled after forty winks, from the humorous notion that if a short nap is forty winks then a very short nap is twenty winks (half that amount).