wake

¹ American  

[wayk] / 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  

[wayk] / 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 /

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 ² 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 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

“Do you often wake up tired?” perfectly toned millennials with titles such as “wellness professional” ask me from my screen.

From Slate ● Oct. 9, 2026

‘People in the U.S. need to wake up’: As a mortgage loan officer, I rejected applications from wealthy couples.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026

In the wake of the vote, Polanski has said he would not accept anyone being excluded from the Green Party "because of the religious or communal body they are part of".

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

German lawmakers have called on the government to tighten operational security at its intelligence agencies and repair trust with allies in the wake of Hanning’s arrest.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

In their wake, the world felt quieter than before.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

Scientists therefore searched for quark and antiquark pairs, expecting both particles to produce detectable wakes in the surrounding plasma.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026

My son wakes up and Nakano starts asking for mac and cheese.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

Her family were waiting at her bedside to learn what life might be like if she wakes up.

From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026

But it’s also because there’s a substantial part of the human population that can’t quite believe it wakes up on a planet where Sam Darnold won a Super Bowl.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

Who's going to take Juanita to the bathroom when she wakes up?

From "Betty Before X" by Ilyasah Shabazz and Renée Watson

Hurts had one last chance and his desperation pass fell way short and he waked off the field in dejection.

From Washington Times ● Feb. 12, 2023

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

For those of us who have waked on the couch on more than an occasional October night, that feels true, if only anecdotally.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 28, 2021

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

From New York Times ● Mar. 13, 2018

“You see, friends,” he said, “that before the new, clean world I gave you is seven hours old, a force of evil has already entered it; waked and brought hither by this son of Adam.”

From "The Magician's Nephew" by C. S. Lewis

“Suddenly the market woke up to the understanding that AI could generate massive cyber risks to organizations, and the only way to protect against that risk was with AI-native cybersecurity products,” Spergel said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

Then she woke up in a hospital with a tube down her throat and people she didn't know.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

"A few days ago, they ran a compressor test with a big bang... even the children who were asleep woke up in fear," said Ali, a retired paper mill worker.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

He said they were gone in the morning when he woke up, and often didn’t come home until he was asleep.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026

When Saturday came, Bat woke up feeling nervous.

From "A Boy Called Bat" by Elana K. Arnold

Holly said her boyfriend had been sleeping as the fire took hold, and was woken by a stranger ringing the doorbell.

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026

You’re not a true sports parent until you’ve woken up in the darkness to the magical patter of rain, and felt a joy you haven’t felt since your young athlete was born.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

Fed officials have now woken up to the inflationary part of the AI story.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

For more than four decades, Yuk Wong has woken up every day at 4 a.m. and cooked bacon from before the sun rises until closing time.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

Mrs. Diamant stirred, as if she’d woken from a sleep.

From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron

She said waking up to the news Pike had survived the injections was "like watching a horror movie".

From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026

"He caught up quickly because he devoted his whole life to it, for every waking hour and then some."

From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026

Maybe the answer is waking up and realizing you don’t have to hit the drive-thru for breakfast.

From Salon ● Sep. 22, 2026

Roman's planet-imaging system, the Coronagraph Instrument, has also completed an early checkout of its digital, electronic, and mechanical systems after waking up earlier this month.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 2026

Maybe rich people always looked fancy, even when just waking up.

From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland

Related Words

• aftermath
• wave