wake

[weyk]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR wake ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object), waked or woke, waked or wok·en, wak·ing.

to become roused from sleep; awake; awaken; waken (often followed by up).

to become roused from a tranquil or inactive state; awaken; waken: to wake from one's daydreams.

to become cognizant or aware of something; awaken; waken: to wake to the true situation.

to be or continue to be awake: Whether I wake or sleep, I think of you.

to remain awake for some purpose, duty, etc.: I will wake until you return.

to hold a wake over a corpse.

to keep watch or vigil.

verb (used with object), waked or woke, waked or wok·en, wak·ing.

to rouse from sleep; awake; awaken; waken (often followed by up): Don't wake me for breakfast. Wake me up at six o'clock.

to rouse from lethargy, apathy, ignorance, etc. (often followed by up): The tragedy woke us up to the need for safety precautions.

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

to keep watch or vigil over.

noun

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

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

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.

the state of being awake: between sleep and wake.

Origin of wake

before 900; (v.) in sense “to become awake” continuing Middle English waken, Old English *wacan (found only in past tense wōc and the compounds onwacan, āwacan to become awake; see awake (v.)); 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, probably altered by association with the other senses and with the k of Old Norse vaka; (noun) Middle English: state of wakefulness, vigil (late Middle English: vigil over a dead body), probably continuing Old English *wacu (found only in nihtwacu night-watch); all ultimately < Germanic *wak- be lively; akin to watch, vegetable, vigil

Related formswak·er, nounhalf-wak·ing, adjectiveun·waked, adjectiveun·wak·ing, adjective

Synonyms for wake

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR wake ON THESAURUS.COM

8. arouse. 9. stimulate, activate, animate, kindle, provoke.

Antonyms for wake

1. sleep.

wake

[weyk]

noun

the track of waves left by a ship or other object moving through the water: The wake of the boat glowed in the darkness.

the path or course of anything that has passed or preceded: The tornado left ruin in its wake.

Origin of wake

1540–50; < Middle Low German, Dutch wake, or Old Norse vǫk hole in the ice

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for wake

aftermath, wave, vigil, watch, deathwatch, track, wash, train, backwash, path, furrow, obsequies

Examples from the Web for wake

Contemporary Examples of wake

That is why The Daily Beast stands with Charlie Hebdo and published their controversial covers in the wake of the attack.
Why We Stand With Charlie Hebdo—And You Should Too
John Avlon
January 8, 2015
In the wake of this turmoil, the New York Post reported that the police had stopped policing.
Ground Zero of the NYPD Slowdown
Batya Ungar-Sargon
January 1, 2015
The newly free country struggled to maintain order in the wake of independence, but it was woefully unprepared.
The Congo's Forgotten Colonial Getaway
Nina Strochlic
December 18, 2014
In the wake of the verdicts in Ferguson and New York City, many of us are still sore with emotion.
The Stacks: A Chicken Dinner That Mends Your Heart
Pete Dexter
December 7, 2014
In the wake of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, things will not be the same.
The Day I Used Eric Garner’s Voice
Joshua DuBois
December 5, 2014

Historical Examples of wake

They laid Paralus upon a couch, with the belief that he slept to wake no more.
Philothea
Lydia Maria Child
The soul cannot move, wake, or open the eyes, without perceiving God.
The Conquest of Fear
Basil King
But now some dim perception of this truth began to wake in her.
Weighed and Wanting
George MacDonald
So keen the blade, so soft the touch, the sleeper did not wake!
Punchinello, Vol. 1, No. 6, May 7, 1870
Various
But was it possible he should ever wake to see how ugly his conduct had been?
Weighed and Wanting
George MacDonald

British Dictionary definitions for wake

wake

verb wakes, waking, woke or woken

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

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

(intr; often foll by to or up to) to become conscious or awareat last he woke to the situation

(intr) to be or remain awake

(tr) to arouse (feelings etc)

dialect to hold a wake over (a corpse)

archaic, or dialect to keep watch over

wake up and smell the coffee informal to face up to reality, especially in an unpleasant situation

noun

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

(in Ireland) festivities held after a funeral

the patronal or dedication festival of English parish churches

a solemn or ceremonial vigil

(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

rare the state of being awake

Derived Formswaker, noun

Word Origin for wake

Old English wacian; related to Old Frisian wakia, Old High German wahtēn

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

wake

noun

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

the track or path left by anything that has passedwrecked houses in the wake of the hurricane

Word Origin for wake

C16: of Scandinavian origin; compare Old Norse vaka, vök hole cut in ice, Swedish vak, Danish vaage; perhaps related to Old Norse vökr, Middle Dutch wak wet

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for wake

"to become awake," Old English wacan "to become awake," also from wacian "to be or remain awake," both from Proto-Germanic *waken (cf. Old Saxon wakon, Old Norse vaka, Danish vaage, Old Frisian waka, Dutch waken, Old High German wahhen, German wachen "to be awake," Gothic wakan "to watch"), from PIE root *weg- "to be strong, be lively" (cf. Sanskrit vajah "force, swiftness, race, prize," vajayati "drives on;" Latin vegere, vigere "to be live, be active, quicken," vigil "awake, wakeful," vigor "liveliness, activity"). Causative sense "to rouse from sleep" is attested from c.1300. Related: Waked; waking. Phrase wake-up call is attested from 1976, originally a call one received from the hotel desk in the morning.

n.1

"track left by a moving ship," 1540s, perhaps from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch wake "hole in the ice," from Old Norse vok, vaka "hole in the ice," from Proto-Germanic *wakwo. The sense perhaps evolved via "track made by a vessel through ice." Perhaps the English word is directly from Scandinavian. Figurative phrase in the wake of "following close behind" is recorded from 1806.

n.2

"state of wakefulness," Old English -wacu (as in nihtwacu "night watch"), related to watch; and partly from Old Norse vaka "vigil, eve before a feast," related to vaka "be awake" (cf. Old High German wahta "watch, vigil," Middle Dutch wachten "to watch, guard;" see wake (v.)). Meaning "a sitting up at night with a corpse" is attested from early 15c. (the verb in this sense is recorded from mid-13c.). The custom largely survived as an Irish activity. Wakeman (c.1200), which survives as a surname, was Middle English for "watchman."

wake in Culture

wake

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.

Idioms and Phrases with wake

wake

In addition to the idioms beginning with wake

, also see

in the wake of
to wake the dead