sleep apnea

/slip ˈæpniə/

/slip ˈæpniə/

A person with sleep apnea periodically stops breathing during the night while they're sleeping. Sometimes people who snore are diagnosed with sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea is a specific type of apnea, a disorder in which breathing stops temporarily. Most people with sleep apnea snore loudly, and everyone with this diagnosis suffers from interrupted sleep, which makes them very tired during the day. Apnea derives from the Greek apnoos, "without breathing," and its root pnein, "to breathe."

Definitions of sleep apnea

1. noun

   an interruption in breathing that occurs during rest that leads to oxygen deprevation
   types:

   SIDS, cot death, crib death, infant death, sudden infant death syndrome

   sudden and unexpected death of an apparently healthy infant during sleep

   type of:

   sleep disorder

   a disturbance of the normal sleep pattern

   apnea

   transient cessation of respiration