wake

wake¹ W3S2 [weık] v also wake up past tense woke [wəuk US wouk] past participle woken [ˈwəukən US ˈwou-]

[I and T]

[: Old English; Origin: wacan 'to wake up' and wacian 'to be awake']

to stop sleeping, or to make someone stop sleeping

▪ When she woke, the sun was streaming through the windows.

▪ Try not to wake the baby.

wake to

▪ Nancy woke to the sound of birds outside her window (=she heard birds singing when she woke) .

wake up phr v

1.) to stop sleeping, or to make someone stop sleeping

▪ James usually wakes up early.

wake sb<=>up

▪ I'll wake you up when it's time to leave.

2.) to start to listen or pay attention to something

▪ Wake up (=give me your attention) at the back there!

3.) wake up and smell the coffee

AmE spoken used to tell someone to recognize the truth or reality of a situation

wake up to [wake up to sth] phr v

to start to realize and understand a danger, an idea etc

▪ It's time you woke up to the fact that it's a tough world.

wake ²

wake² n

[Sense: 1-2,4; Date: 1400-1500; Origin: Perhaps from Dutch wak or Middle Low German wake, from Old Norse vok 'hole in the ice, especially as made by a boat']

[Sense: 3; Date: 1400-1500; Origin: WAKE¹]

1.) in the wake of sth

if something, especially something bad, happens in the wake of an event, it happens afterwards and usually as a result of it

▪ Famine followed in the wake of the drought.

2.) in sb's/sth's wake

behind or after someone or something

▪ The car left clouds of dust in its wake.

3.) the time before or after a funeral when friends and relatives meet to remember the dead person

4.) [usually singular]

the track made behind a boat as it moves through the water