asleepadjectivesleeping: The baby is asleep in the bedroom. He fell asleep (= started sleeping) in front of the fire.oppositeawakewhich word?Asleep or sleeping? We usually say someone is asleep, not sleeping. We use go to sleep or fall asleep to talk about starting to sleep: • Laura fell asleep as soon as she got into bed. • Tom read for half an hour before he went to sleep. You use sleeping, not asleep, before a noun: • She put the sleeping child in his cot.