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
Luke Barr, ABC News, 25 Sep. 2025
Earthquake experts said the quake was a literal wake-up call for millions of residents that the Bay Area is prone to earthquakes, and although large ones are rare, people should prepare.
—Robert Salonga, Mercury News, 22 Sep. 2025
Akhil Reed Amar, Time, 22 Sep. 2025
In it, a man wakes up with no memory, his hand replaced by a computer.
—Ellen Cushing, The Atlantic, 22 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for wake-up
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Adjective
This shooting must serve as a wake-up call.
—Luke Barr, ABC News, 25 Sep. 2025
Earthquake experts said the quake was a literal wake-up call for millions of residents that the Bay Area is prone to earthquakes, and although large ones are rare, people should prepare.
—Robert Salonga, Mercury News, 22 Sep. 2025
Verb
In law—if not yet in fact, as the Union Army had only begun its work of sweeping the South clean—some three million souls who had gone to sleep enslaved the day before would wake up the next day as free men, women, and children.
—Akhil Reed Amar, Time, 22 Sep. 2025
In it, a man wakes up with no memory, his hand replaced by a computer.
—Ellen Cushing, The Atlantic, 22 Sep. 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 29 Sep. 2025.
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