wake

¹ American  

[weyk] / weɪk /

verb (used without object)

• wakes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• waked,
  past participle,  past
• woke,
  past
• woken,
  past participle
• waking
  present participle

1. to become roused from sleep; awake; awaken; waken (often followed byup ).

   Antonyms:

   sleep

2. to become roused from a tranquil or inactive state; awaken; waken.

   to wake from one's daydreams.

3. to become cognizant or aware of something; awaken; waken.

   to wake to the true situation.

4. to be or continue to be awake.

   Whether I wake or sleep, I think of you.

5. to remain awake for some purpose, duty, etc..

   I will wake until you return.

6. to hold a wake over a corpse.

7. to keep watch or vigil.

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verb (used with object)

• wakes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• waked,
  past participle,  past
• woke,
  past
• woken,
  past participle
• waking
  present participle

1. to rouse from sleep; awake; awaken; waken (often followed byup ).

   Don't wake me for breakfast. Wake me up at six o'clock.

   Synonyms:

   arouse

2. to rouse from lethargy, apathy, ignorance, etc. (often followed byup ).

   The tragedy woke us up to the need for safety precautions.

   Synonyms:

   provoke, kindle, animate, activate, stimulate

3. to hold a wake for or over (a dead person).

4. to keep watch or vigil over.

noun

1. a watching, or a watch kept, especially for some solemn or ceremonial purpose.

2. a watch or vigil by the body of a dead person before burial, sometimes accompanied by feasting or merrymaking.

3. a local annual festival in England, formerly held in honor of the patron saint or on the anniversary of the dedication of a church but now usually having little or no religious significance.

4. the state of being awake.

   between sleep and wake.

wake ² American  

[weyk] / weɪk /

noun

1. the track of waves left by a ship or other object moving through the water.

   The wake of the boat glowed in the darkness.

2. the path or course of anything that has passed or preceded.

   The tornado left ruin in its wake.

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idioms

1. in the wake of,

   1. as a result of.

      An investigation followed in the wake of the scandal.

   2. succeeding; following.

      in the wake of the pioneers.

wake ¹ British  

/ weɪk /

noun

1. the waves or track left by a vessel or other object moving through water

2. the track or path left by anything that has passed

   wrecked houses in the wake of the hurricane

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wake ² British  

/ weɪk /

verb

1. (often foll by up) to rouse or become roused from sleep

2. (often foll by up) to rouse or become roused from inactivity

3. (intr; often foll by to or up to) to become conscious or aware

   at last he woke to the situation

4. (intr) to be or remain awake

5. (tr) to arouse (feelings etc)

6. dialect to hold a wake over (a corpse)

7. archaic to keep watch over

8. informal to face up to reality, especially in an unpleasant situation

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noun

1. a watch or vigil held over the body of a dead person during the night before burial

2. (in Ireland) festivities held after a funeral

3. the patronal or dedication festival of English parish churches

4. a solemn or ceremonial vigil

5. (usually plural) an annual holiday in any of various towns in northern England, when the local factory or factories close, usually for a week or two weeks

6. rare the state of being awake

wake Cultural  

1. A funeral celebration, common in Ireland, at which the participants stay awake all night keeping watch over the body of the dead person before burial. A wake traditionally involves a good deal of feasting and drinking.

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wake More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing wake

• in the wake of
• to wake the dead

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Usage

Where there is an object and the sense is the literal one wake ( up ) and waken are the commonest forms: I wakened him; I woke him ( up ). Both verbs are also commonly used without an object: I woke up . Awake and awaken are preferred to other forms of wake where the sense is a figurative one: he awoke to the danger

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• waker
  noun
• half-waking
  adjective
• unwaked
  adjective
• unwaking
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• waking
  present
• waked
  past
• woken
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• wake
  simple
• wakes
  simple
• have waked
  perfect
• have woken
  perfect
• has waked
  perfect
• has woken
  perfect
• am waking
  progressive
• are waking
  progressive
• is waking
  progressive
• have been waking
  perfect progressive
• has been waking
  perfect progressive

Past

• waked
  simple
• woke
  simple
• had waked
  perfect
• had woken
  perfect
• was waking
  progressive
• were waking
  progressive
• had been waking
  perfect progressive

Future

• will wake
  simple
• will have waked
  perfect
• will have woken
  perfect
• will be waking
  progressive
• will have been waking
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of wake¹

First recorded before 900; (verb) in sense “to become awake” continuing Middle English waken, Old English wacan ; in sense “to be awake” continuing Middle English waken, Old English wacian (cognate with Old Frisian wakia, Old Saxon wakōn, Old Norse vaka, Gothic wakan ); in sense “to rouse from sleep” continuing Middle English waken, replacing Middle English wecchen, Old English weccan; (noun) Middle English: “state of wakefulness, vigil,” probably continuing unattested Old English wacu (found in nihtwacu “night-watch”); all ultimately from unattested Germanic wak- “be lively”; akin to watch, vegetate; cf. waken

Origin of wake²

First recorded in 1540–50; from Middle Low German, Dutch wake, or Old Norse vǫk, vaka “opening or hole in the ice”

Explanation

In the wake, or aftermath, of a death, it's traditional in many cultures to hold a wake, a vigil for the dead. There's a third meaning of wake, too, you know: it's the waves that a boat leaves behind as it slices through the water. And that's not all... Wake has three meanings as a noun, and, yes, just about as many meanings as a verb! So get set. To wake is come out of sleep, a verb you'll recognize from "Wake up! You're asleep at the wheel!" You can wake feelings, as well as the people who are having them. The wake before the funeral caused Mike to wake from his depression and decide to live life to the fullest. His first act was to water ski; he eventually mastered staying upright while crossing the wake of the boat that was towing him.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

wake wakes waked woke woken waking

"CAR is the cortisol rise that all people experience in the morning, peaking around 30 minutes after they wake up," Cservenka said.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 9, 2026

Leaving a trail of destruction in their wake are introduced pests: fire ants, cane toads, rabbits, foxes, feral cats.

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026

After restaurants raised menu prices in the wake of the pandemic’s disruptions to the economy, and as costs for beef have risen, more diners have focused on value.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 8, 2026

The joint defense accord underscores how regional powers are taking a hard look at their security arrangements in the wake of the war in Iran.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

The master wanted the same catch every day, despite this project and the fact that we were one hand short, so we had to wake up even earlier and work even later.

From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo

“Honestly, nobody wakes up in the morning and says, ‘Hey, I wanna go live on that street,’” he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026

Every morning, she wakes up and climbs up to her damaged apartment to bathe, change clothes and get ready for work.

From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026

"As someone who wakes up and goes to bed at the same time every day, I think a daily routine can be helpful for people of all ages across their lifespan," Tracy said.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 31, 2026

Spielberg launches the story into another dimension when Martin wakes up from his coma and returns home.

From Salon ● Jun. 28, 2026

My wakes of pebbles and dirt caught up with me.

From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell

Since the Australian show — now in its third season — reached American audiences on Disney+ in early 2020, parents have waked in the night with the melodica-driven theme song on hyperloop in their heads.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 26, 2023

When he had more time to linger on the what-ifs, whether things would have been different had he just waked up earlier that Saturday and visited her.

From Seattle Times ● May 28, 2022

Every morning, before most of the surrounding world has waked up, P.J.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 5, 2019

He has waked up the sleeping giant that is the Philadelphia Orchestra.

From New York Times ● Mar. 13, 2018

March 17—When I waked up this morning rite away I thot I was gone to be smart but Im not.

From "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes

CEUTA, Spain—Obaid Aleilmi woke up on a recent afternoon, after working the night shift, to a flood of messages on his phone saying the border was open.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026

The next morning, she woke up to a "horrible realisation", feeling itchy with red lumps over her body and blood spots smeared on the bedding — the tell-tale signs of bed bugs, she said.

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026

"I was in Tangier, where I was working. I woke up in the morning and heard that Ceuta had opened," Zahra told AFP.

From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026

It wasn’t until the next morning, when the American mother woke up to a town filled with smoke, that she realized she had missed an evacuation order.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

I woke up the next morning with a pounding headache and twice as sick as I had been the day before.

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls

Called “Situational Awareness,” the essay proclaimed that AI would soon become more powerful than humans and that most of the world hadn’t woken up to this reality.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

He added every day since discovering his role, he had "woken up and it's felt like an actual dream".

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

Their once-anemic offense has woken up, in part thanks to a much-needed contribution from offseason acquisition Caleb Durbin, who blasted the game-winning home run in Monday’s victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

The All Stars won, but learned Monday that Krug had gone to sleep and never woken up.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026

How’s this for a relaxing night: At three a.m. on November 7, 1942, Sofya Osipova and the rest of her group got woken up by their chief mechanic.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

Chef’s chosen method for waking Tony in the morning is rude, funny and effective.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

"They fly overhead, whether we're waking up in the morning -- at 7 am even -- or when we're going to bed, they're always flying about. So no-one's safe."

From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026

When the researchers compared participants' descriptions of waking life with their dream reports, they found that the brain did not appear to reproduce daily experiences exactly as they happened.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026

In her waking hours, Elle is the movie star of a “Barbarella”–like space adventure about an all-female crew who zips through a wormhole and crash lands on a crystalline planet.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

He was mad at me for waking him up.

From "Root Magic" by Eden Royce

Related Words

• aftermath
• wave