sleep seat

[Bridget]

What does "sleep seat" mean here?

Bobby sat in the sleep seat as they rumbled through the night.

[Pete]

What does "sleep seat" mean here?

Bobby sat in the sleep seat as they rumbled through the night.
You didn't give us any context, but if the setting is a truck, this quote from an Internet article probably shows what is meant:

> A sleep seat is the seat in which the co-driver in a long-distance lorry or truck can rest.

> www.vuw.ac.nz/lals/publications/pdfs/george-pdfs/HVG15.PDF

(It may or may not be significant that the URL is from New Zealand; I had not personally heard that term before.)

[Bridget]

You didn't give us any context, but if the setting is a truck, this quote from an Internet article probably shows what is meant:

> A sleep seat is the seat in which the co-driver in a long-distance lorry or truck can rest.

> www.vuw.ac.nz/lals/publications/pdfs/george-pdfs/HVG15.PDF (http://www.vuw.ac.nz/lals/publications/pdfs/george-pdfs/HVG15.PDF)

(It may or may not be significant that the URL is from New Zealand; I had not personally heard that term before.)


I see. That makes sense. Do you think it is limited to NZ?

[Pete]

I see. That makes sense. Do you think it is limited to NZ?
As I said, I've never heard the term before, so don't consider me an authority on this. It doesn't seem to be limited to New Zealand, however. Google turned up 3 relevant hits for me: the one from NZ that I listed, one from a UK Defense Standard for military logistics vehicles (whatever they are), and one in a forum that described a mini-bus used to tour along the California coast. (The person who posted that, however, had an aol.com e-mail address, which gives no clue about his actual nationality.)

There does seem to be another meaning for "sleep seat" that I gleaned from some other Google references: this is a seat (as on a bus or airplane) that reclines all the way flat to facilitate sleeping. The reference in the posting about the mini-bus in California may well have intended that meaning.

With the "rumble" reference in your original quote and the definite article "the" implying a single unique sleep seat, the "co-driver's seat" definition still seems the most likely in your particular quote.