reverse lie-in noun [C]
UK /rɪˌvɜːs.ˈlaɪ.ɪn/ US /rɪˌvɝːs.ˈlaɪ.ɪn /
a time when you go to bed much earlier than usual then get up early the next morning
I decided I had had enough of being permanently exhausted, and always wishing I could have a lie-in. I had to accept that, as a 40-year-old mother, my days of lie-ins are behind me. So … every day, I have a reverse lie-in. A reverse lie-in, for those who have no idea what I’m talking about, involves going to bed extremely early. And I mean extremely early. Toddler early. We’re talking 8pm here, at the latest.
[telegraph.co.uk, 15 May 2021]
sleepcast noun [C]
UK /ˈsliːp..kɑːst/ US /ˈsliːp.kæst /
a podcast containing sounds and voices that are designed to give you a good night’s sleep
And now available on your Headspace app are sleepcasts. Each one offers a tour of a dreamy landscape, with voice actors as guides, providing details in soft, comforting tones … Each sleepcast is set in the evening or at night, and many involve water – lagoons, rain, rivers, ponds, oceans. You can make adjustments within the app to dial up the background ambient noise, make the narration quieter or louder, or turn the narration off completely.
[everydayhealth.com, 14 May 2020]
sleep sticker noun [C]
UK /ˈsliːp.stɪk.əʳ/ US /ˈsliːp.stɪk.ɚ/
a small electronic device that sticks to your chin and records information about the quality of your sleep
Sleep apnoea and sleep disordered breathing affects 49 per cent of men and 23 per cent of women. Step forward the Sunrise sleep sticker, a one-use, certified medical-grade 3g sensor that sits on your chin (yes, really) while you sleep. A big step up from regular sleep trackers, it tracks data [and] compiles a report shared via an app the next day.
[thetimes.co.uk, 6 January 2021]
Hi Cambridge words!
I am you ardent follower and always try to read posts.
However, I want to ask something related to gerunds.
I saw following sentence
“Chief among the benefits was the lifting of the economic sanctions.”
And I don’t understand why gerund
-lifting- has an article ‘the’.
Because I usually remember gerunds with not articles.
For example
Sleeping on the car…
Drinking water…
.
.
.
Can we add articles to gerunds?And what changes when we do it?
I would be grateful if you could explain it to me.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Dear Yiğitcan,
Unfortunately, we are unable to answer general queries about language, only questions related to About Words blog posts.
Thank you for your interest, and we hope that you continue to enjoy the blog!
Best wishes,
The Cambridge Dictionary Team
Oh. Sorry to hear that…
Thanks for your reply.
It happens when the word can change its using. It’s called Verbal Nouns (you may search it).
A verbal word changes to a noun word as I’ve used in the first explanation: using (noun) – [to] use (verb).
It is quite simple.
So, the word lifting is a noun and its verb is (to) lift.
Have you got it?
Cheers!