wake up

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word wake up. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word wake up, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say wake up in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word wake up you have here. The definition of the word wake up will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofwake up, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
See also: wakeup and wake-up

English

Etymology

From wake + up.

Pronunciation

Verb

wake up (third-person singular simple present wakes up, present participle waking up, simple past woke up or waked up, past participle woken up or waked up)

  1. (intransitive) To stop sleeping; to awake.
    • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
      I made a speaking trumpet of my hands and commenced to whoop “Ahoy!” and “Hello!” at the top of my lungs. [] The Colonel woke up, and, after asking what in brimstone was the matter, opened his mouth and roared “Hi!” and “Hello!” like the bull of Bashan.
    • 1967, John Lennon/Paul McCartney, A Day in the Life:
      "Woke up, fell out of bed, dragged a comb across my head"
  2. (transitive) To awaken somebody.
    Wake your brother up; it's time for school.
    • 1935, George Goodchild, chapter 3, in Death on the Centre Court:
      It had been his intention to go to Wimbledon, but as he himself said: “Why be blooming well frizzled when you can hear all the results over the wireless. [] You stand by, Janet, and wake me up if they do any of that running commentary stuff.”
  3. (intransitive) To become more aware of a real-life situation; to concentrate on the matter in hand.
    Some businesses were slow to wake up to the importance of the Internet.
    That's the third time you've made the same mistake. Wake up!
    • 2023 May 31, “Network News: Action suspended on Elizabeth line”, in RAIL, number 984, page 21:
      "Elizabeth line staff are multi-skilled and operate the world's only fully digital railway, but many earn significantly less than other TfL staff in similar roles.That is clearly not an acceptable or sustainable position, and it looks as though the company is waking up to the fact."

Derived terms

Translations

See also