1
: a signal to get up mornings
2
: a bugle call at about sunrise signaling the first military formation of the day
also
: the formation so signaled
Examples of reveille in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Luggage lined up in Dallas terminals like dwarf soldiers in a nightmare reveille.
—
Dan Zak, Washington Post, 28 Dec. 2022
The two-minute silence across the U.K. marked the end of the service, along with a reveille, the national anthem, and a royal piper playing a lament.
—Time, 19 Sep. 2022
Inmates in Theresienstadt are forced to stand in the freezing November cold during morning reveille: The camp commandant wants to test out a little theory he’s developed about the effects of hypothermia.
—Toby Lichtig, WSJ, 21 Feb. 2020
Fort Sam Houston Museum Director Jacqueline Davis noted that as early as the 1840s, armed forces used a drum roll with reveille after sunrise and retreat at sunset to gather the troops for roll call.
—René A. Guzman, ExpressNews.com, 5 Feb. 2020
Two hundred and forty-one marines, most of them asleep because reveille was still eight minutes away, were killed.
—Robin Wright, The New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2019
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Dan Zak, Washington Post, 28 Dec. 2022
The two-minute silence across the U.K. marked the end of the service, along with a reveille, the national anthem, and a royal piper playing a lament.
—Time, 19 Sep. 2022
Inmates in Theresienstadt are forced to stand in the freezing November cold during morning reveille: The camp commandant wants to test out a little theory he’s developed about the effects of hypothermia.
—Toby Lichtig, WSJ, 21 Feb. 2020
Fort Sam Houston Museum Director Jacqueline Davis noted that as early as the 1840s, armed forces used a drum roll with reveille after sunrise and retreat at sunset to gather the troops for roll call.
—René A. Guzman, ExpressNews.com, 5 Feb. 2020
Two hundred and forty-one marines, most of them asleep because reveille was still eight minutes away, were killed.
—Robin Wright, The New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2019
Cite this Entry
“Reveille.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reveille. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
reveille
noun
rev·eil·le
ˈrev-ə-lē 
1
: a signal to get up in the morning
2
: a bugle call at about sunrise signaling the first military formation of the day
Etymology
from French réveillez "wake up!"
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