sandman
pronunciation
How to pronounce sandman in British English:
UK [ˈsændmæn]
How to pronounce sandman in American English:
US ['sændmæn]
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- Noun:
- an elf in fairy stories who sprinkles sand in children's eyes to make them sleepy
Word Origin
- sandman (n.)
- bringer of sleep in nursery lore, 1861, from sand (n.) in reference to hard grains found in the eyelashes on waking; first attested in a translation from the Norwegian of Andersen (his Ole Lukoie "Ole Shut-eye," about a being who makes children sleepy, came out 1842), and perhaps partly from German Sandmann. More common in U.S.; dustman with the same sense is attested from 1821.
Example
- 1. We go after the sandman .
- 2. Before the time of the morning sandman .
- 3. The sandman 's coming ! Ie it 's time for bed !
- 4. We kept our english cool until the three-piece covers band began the introduction to metallica 's ' enter sandman ' which was our queue to show the turkish youth how we do it in the uk .