http://www.fmi.uni-passau.de/archive/doc/unix/unixhelp/Unixhelp/commanz_sleep.html (Einblicke ins Internet, ~06/1995)To suspend the execution of a command for a specific amount of time use the command:
sleep time_in_seconds; command
The second command will not be carried out until the amount of time specified as an argument to the sleep command has elapsed. The semicolon (;) is used to allow the two commands to be entered on the same command line.
This command is very useful if you need to do something else before a command is executed.