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
Janine Henni, PEOPLE, 12 Nov. 2025
The Omega scandal was kind of a wake-up call for probably all the companies.
—Paige Reddinger, Robb Report, 8 Nov. 2025
Gabriela Vidal, CBS News, 17 Nov. 2025
What To Know The Jets played their week 11 game on Thursday, leaving them free for Sunday, but the players woke up instead to news that their teammate had been shot and was in the hospital.
—Peter Aitken, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for wake-up
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Adjective
The data is truly a wake-up call.
—Janine Henni, PEOPLE, 12 Nov. 2025
The Omega scandal was kind of a wake-up call for probably all the companies.
—Paige Reddinger, Robb Report, 8 Nov. 2025
Verb
But only a day after residents adorned the memorial with flowers in honor of those who served, Fanning woke up to another round of damage.
—Gabriela Vidal, CBS News, 17 Nov. 2025
What To Know The Jets played their week 11 game on Thursday, leaving them free for Sunday, but the players woke up instead to news that their teammate had been shot and was in the hospital.
—Peter Aitken, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Nov. 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 18 Nov. 2025.
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