Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- phrase If you keep yourself tightly bundled you will sleep warm and rest well.
- interjection
good night
Etymologies
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Examples
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abraxaszugzwang commented on the word sleep tight
don't let the bedbugs bite.
February 17, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word sleep tight
I like the origins of this phrase. It comes from when people slept on rope-tensioned bed frames, and the ropes would stretch out over time. But to sleep comfortably, they had to be pretty tight. Hence...
February 18, 2007
bilby commented on the word sleep tight
"But the tight in sleep tight, meaning 'sleep soundly,' almost certainly comes from the use of tight and tightly to mean 'soundly, securely, properly,' a use that dates back to Shakespeare. The phrase sleep tight also first appeared in the mid-19th century, a bit after such beds were popular, and from the first was most commonly heard in variations on the classic rhyming bedtime salutation 'Good night, sleep tight, and don’t let the bedbugs bite.' The impulse of tour guides to tie the phrase sleep tight to beds sporting ropes that had to be kept tight must be nearly irresistible, but I’m afraid that doesn’t make it true."
- Evan Morris on word-detective.com, August 2008.
September 8, 2008