not sleep a wink
Meaning: To not sleep at all.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “The neighbors' party went on until four, and I didn't sleep a wink.”
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: A "wink" was a brief closing of the eyes, and so the smallest possible amount of sleep. Shakespeare has "I have not slept one wink" in Cymbeline (1611), and the phrase may be older.
Equivalents in other languages
- French: ne pas fermer l’œil de la nuit — literally: to not close the eye of the night
More idioms — Body & Senses
- welcome with open arms — To greet or accept someone with great warmth and enthusiasm.
- count on the fingers of one hand — To be very few in number, five or fewer.
- give someone an earful — To scold someone at length, or tell them angrily what one thinks.
- one's eyes pop out of one's head — To be astonished, often at something striking or desirable.
- turn one's stomach — To make someone feel sick, physically or with disgust.
- have eyes in the back of one's head — To notice everything, even what happens behind one's back.
More English idioms
- work oneself into a lather — To become very agitated, anxious or angry.
- be all the rage — To be extremely fashionable or popular for a time.
- avoid like the plague — To stay as far away as possible from someone or something.
- lay it on thick — To exaggerate, especially praise or flattery, far too much.
- stake one's life on it — To be absolutely certain that something is true.
- chase skirts — To pursue women constantly and flirtatiously.
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