sleeping draught

English

Noun

sleeping draught (plural sleeping draughts)

1. (dated) A liquid medicine that induces sleep.
   • 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 240:

     In the evening, when the princess came and brought him his drink, he made appear as if he drank, but he threw it over his shoulder, for he felt sure she had put a sleeping draught in his drink.

   • 1934, Agatha Christie, chapter 7, in Murder on the Orient Express, London: HarperCollins, published 2017, page 123:

     'My wife always takes a sleeping draught when travelling by train. She took her usual dose of trional.'

Translations

liquid medicine that induces sleep

• Middle English: dwale