woke up also waked up; woken up also waked up; waking up; wakes up
: awake entry 1, wake entry 1: such as
a
: to cease sleeping : to become awake
I woke up late this morning.
When I woke up on Monday the sky was the color of mercury, and the air was heavy with moisture.—
Ann M. Martin
Ann M. Martin
b
: to rouse (a person or animal) from or as if from sleep
The sound of a door slamming woke him up.
c
: to become aware or to make (someone) aware of something (such as an existing problem or danger)
They finally woke up and realized what was happening.
—usually used with toa study that woke people up to the importance of regular exercise
In 1997, … Jacob Nielsen predicted that if newspapers didn't wake up to the threat of online classified advertising and dominate the field by 1998, many of them would die within a decade.—Emily Benedek
Emily BenedekExamples of wake-up in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Greg Licholai Md, Forbes.com, 25 June 2025
The primary driving factor here seemed to be wake-up time.
—Lauren Leffer, Popular Science, 25 June 2025
Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 23 June 2025
Guo, who dropped out of college and built her fortune in the tech industry, says her grueling daily schedule—waking up at 5:30 am and working until midnight—doesn’t feel like work to her at all.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 22 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for wake-up
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Adjective
The pharmaceutical industry’s shifts are a wake-up call for American policymakers and business leaders.
—Greg Licholai Md, Forbes.com, 25 June 2025
The primary driving factor here seemed to be wake-up time.
—Lauren Leffer, Popular Science, 25 June 2025
Verb
Because radios are still in cars, and people are waking up every morning all around the country and turning on this free entertainment.
—Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 23 June 2025
Guo, who dropped out of college and built her fortune in the tech industry, says her grueling daily schedule—waking up at 5:30 am and working until midnight—doesn’t feel like work to her at all.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 22 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for wake-up
Cite this Entry
“Wake-up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wake-up. Accessed 4 Jul. 2025.
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