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

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

And thousands of fans queued to pay tribute to the musician, during his public wake on Monday.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

Papa said, “Wash your face in some cold water. That always helps. At least, it’ll wake you up.”

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls

Researchers calculate CAR by measuring cortisol immediately after a person wakes and then measuring it again 30 minutes later.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 9, 2026

“His day is planned from the second he wakes up to the minute he goes to sleep.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

On a street in Central Havana, Mayumis Nunez wakes up on an improvised bed in front of the building where she lived for years.

From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026

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

From Salon ● Jun. 28, 2026

By the time I’m done, Boo wakes up.

From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko

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

It also leaves the uncanny sense that the figure has waked from a long sleep and is keenly aware that you are observing its first flickering of consciousness.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 11, 2022

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

Toto Bergamo Rossi, director of the Venetian Heritage Foundation, who lives in a palace not far from the train station, said the hordes had rudely waked him that morning.

From New York Times ● Jun. 3, 2020

True, he had waked with the plan that next morning, and the plan had worked, but look at the disaster that had followed!

From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

A couple woke to find a shirtless man in their hotel bedroom after he was mistakenly given a key card to their door, BBC Scotland News has learned.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

When she woke up that Friday morning, ash was falling like snow, and pieces of burning wood were falling from the sky.

From The Wall Street Journal ● 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 early, stretched out my arms and was happy to be alone with the whole day ahead of me with no plans.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026

I woke one morning to a pixie on my nose.

From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff

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

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

Those only grew louder on the second rest day of the race when he was woken up at 5 a.m. by antidoping authorities knocking on his door outside of the normal testing window.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

Herb Alpert walks up a long driveway at his rambling Malibu estate, wincing slightly after having woken up around 3 a.m. with a cramp in his left calf.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026

And what was that strange noise that had woken Barry up?

From "I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005" by Lauren Tarshis

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

The findings suggest that everyday patterns, such as waking, eating, working, socializing, and going to bed at similar times, may support better overall well-being.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 31, 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

These include repeatedly waking up throughout the night to relieve himself and "stomach aches real bad".

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

“Excuse me, Mr. Keeney,” said Jake, gently waking him.

From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein

Related Words

• aftermath
• wave