Dreams

dream  (drm)

n.

1. A series of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations occurring involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep.

2. A daydream; a reverie.

3. A state of abstraction; a trance.

4. A wild fancy or hope.

5. A condition or achievement that is longed for; an aspiration: a dream of owning their own business.

6. One that is exceptionally gratifying, excellent, or beautiful: Our new car runs like a dream.

v. dreamed or dreamt (drmt), dream·ing, dreams

v.intr.

1. To experience a dream in sleep: dreamed of meeting an old friend.

2. To daydream.

3. To have a deep aspiration: dreaming of a world at peace.

4. To regard something as feasible or practical: I wouldn't dream of trick skiing on icy slopes.

v.tr.

1. To experience a dream of while asleep: Did it storm last night, or did I dream it?

2. To conceive of; imagine.

3. To pass (time) idly or in reverie.

Phrasal Verbs:

dream on Informal

Used in the imperative to indicate that a statement or suggestion is improbable or unrealistic.

dream up

To invent; concoct: dreamed up a plan to corner the market.

---

[Middle English drem, from Old English dram, joy, music; akin to Old Saxon drm, mirth, dream.]

---

Dreams

See also sleep.

autism

1. a tendency to daydream.
2. Psychiatry. an extreme withdrawal into fantasy in thought or behavior, not correctible by external information. — autistic, adj.

oneirocriticism

the interpretation of dreams. — oneirocritic, n. — oneirocritical, adj.

oneirodynia

Medicine. a disturbed sleep, involving nightmare and sometimes sleepwalking.

oneirology

the science and interpretation of dreams. Also oneiroscopy.

oneiromancy

a form of divination involving dreams. — oneiromancer, n.

phantasmagoria

a type of magic-lantern show in which rapidly moving images blend, change size, etc.; hence, any series of images that move and change rapidly, as a dream. — phantasmagorial, phantasmagoric, adj.

pnigalion

a nightmare.

reverist

a person much inclined to dream, especially to day-dream; a dreamy person.

---

Dreams 

See Also: AMBITION, HOPE, SLEEP

1. The arc of dreams is black and streaked with gray as dead hair is —John Logan
2. Dreamed of unearned riches, like Aladdin —Phyllis McGinley
3. The dream … hovered about her still like a pleasant, warm fog —Lynne Sharon Schwartz
4. A dream not interpreted is like a letter not read —Babylonian Talmud
5. Dream safely like any child who has said prayers and to whom a lullaby has been sung —George Garrett
6. Dreams are like a microscope through which we look at the hidden occurences in our soul —Erich Fromm
7. Dreams are thoughts waiting to be thought —Jan de Hartog
8. Dreams descend like cranes on gilded, forgetful wings —John Ashbery
9. Dreams move my countenance as if it were earth being pelted by rain —Diane Wakoski
10. The dreams of idealists are like the sound of footsteps in a tornado —Melvin I. Cooperman, June 8, 1987
11. Dreams pop out like old fillings in the teeth —Diane Wakoski
12. Dreams rising from your eyes like steam —George Bradley
13. Dreams withered like flowers that are blighted by frost —Ellen Glasgow

    See Also: DISINTEGRATION

14. Dreamy as puberty —Karl Shapiro
15. Fantasy is like jam; you have to spread it on a solid slice of bread. If not, it remains a shapeless thing, like jam, out of which you can’t make anything —Italo Calvino, television interview aired after his death in 1985
16. Kept it [private dream] locked in his heart and took it out only when he was alone, like a miser counting his gold —Margaret Millar
17. Like a dog, he hunts in dreams —Alfred, Lord Tennyson
18. Nightmares have seasons like hurricanes —Lorrie Moore
19. Old dreams still floated … like puddles of oil on the surface of a pail of water —Paige Mitchell
20. Our dreams like clouds disperse —Alfred Noyes
21. Toss wishes like a coin —George Garrett