wake

1 of 3

verb

ˈwāk 

woke ˈwōk  also waked wākt  ; woken ˈwō-kən  or waked also woke; waking

intransitive verb

1

a

: to be or remain awake

b

archaic : to remain awake on watch especially over a corpse

c

obsolete : to stay up late in revelry

2

: awake, wake up

They woke early.

transitive verb

1

: to stand watch over (someone or something)

especially : to hold a wake over

2

a

: to rouse from or as if from sleep : awake, wake up

Something woke her in the middle of the night.

b

: stir, excite

an experience that woke old feelings

c

: to arouse conscious interest in : alert

—usually used with to

woke the public to the risks

waker noun

wake

2 of 3

noun (1)

1

: the state of being awake

2

a(1)

: an annual English parish festival formerly held in commemoration of the church's patron saint

(2)

: vigil sense 3a

b

: the festivities originally connected with the wake of an English parish church

—usually used in plural but singular or plural in construction

c

British : an annual holiday or vacation

—usually used in plural but singular or plural in construction

3

: a watch held over the body of a dead person prior to burial and sometimes accompanied by festivity

wake

3 of 3

noun (2)

1

: the track left by a moving body (such as a ship) in a fluid (such as water)

broadly : a track or path left

2

: aftermath sense 3

see also:

in the wake of

Synonyms of wake

Verb

• awaken
• awake
• rouse

Examples of wake in a Sentence

Verb

She can never remember her dreams upon waking.

my banging around in the kitchen woke my wife

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Each day, the women were woken at six, with the sounds of stomping boots and barking dogs. — Joshua Yaffa, New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2026

In the beginning, Piker wanted to show young men that leftists could be fun — not just woke social-justice warriors and PC scolds. — Josh Eells, Rolling Stone, 9 Aug. 2026

Noun

The Gordon Road Stand, the oldest in the EFL and barely 30 yards wide, was still standing, albeit slowly rotting away after being closed in the wake of the Bradford City fire disaster that claimed 56 lives in 1985. — Richard Sutcliffe, New York Times, 13 Aug. 2026

Instead, in their wake, the league veered far in the other direction, taking the finesse out of the game and turning on-court play into a street fight, with officials unable or unwilling to get their arms round the physicality. — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 12 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Verb

partly from Middle English waken (past wook, past participle waken), from Old English wacan to awake (past wōc, past participle wacen); partly from Middle English wakien, waken (past & past participle waked), from Old English wacian to be awake (past wacode, past participle wacod); akin to Old English wæccan to watch, Latin vegēre to enliven

Noun (2)

akin to Middle Low German wake wake, Norwegian dialect vok, Old Norse vǫk hole in ice

First Known Use

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a

Noun (1)

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

1627, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing wake

• in someone's or something's wake
• in the wake of
• wake-and-bake
• wake-robin
• wake-up
• wake up and smell the coffee/roses
• wake-up call

Rhymes for wake

• ache
• ake
• bake
• brake
• break
• cake
• craik
• crake
• fake
• flake
• hake
• jake

Kids Definition

wake

1 of 3 verb

ˈwāk 

woke ˈwōk  also waked ˈwākt  ; woken ˈwō-kən  or waked also woke; waking

1

: to be or remain awake

2

: to stand watch over (as a dead body)

especially : to hold a wake over

3

: to arouse from or as if from sleep : awake

—often used with up

waker noun

wake

2 of 3 noun

: a time before a dead person is buried when people gather to remember him or her and often to view the body

wake

3 of 3 noun

1

: a track or path left by a moving body (as a ship) in the water

2

: aftermath sense 2

Etymology

Verb

from Old English wacan "to awake" and Old English wacian "to be awake"

Noun

of Germanic origin