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
Evan Grant, Dallas Morning News, 18 Feb. 2026
Likewise, McHenry believes the SNAP cuts are a wake-up call.
—Annemarie Dooling, Bon Appetit Magazine, 18 Feb. 2026
Patrick Saunders, Denver Post, 17 Feb. 2026
The state is waking up this morning to a second mass shooting in two months, this time at a high school hockey game in Pawtucket.
—Will Richmond, The Providence Journal, 17 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for wake-up
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Adjective
The demotion may have been an in-season wake-up call, but the season, as a whole, was an inflection point.
—Evan Grant, Dallas Morning News, 18 Feb. 2026
Likewise, McHenry believes the SNAP cuts are a wake-up call.
—Annemarie Dooling, Bon Appetit Magazine, 18 Feb. 2026
Verb
Freeland woke up to news Tuesday morning that Tony Clark, the MLBPA’s executive director, had resigned, leaving the union without its longtime leader less than a year before the expiration of Major League Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement.
—Patrick Saunders, Denver Post, 17 Feb. 2026
The state is waking up this morning to a second mass shooting in two months, this time at a high school hockey game in Pawtucket.
—Will Richmond, The Providence Journal, 17 Feb. 2026
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 20 Feb. 2026.
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