wake

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

Synonyms of wake

• awaken
• awake
• rouse

Examples of wake in a Sentence

She can never remember her dreams upon waking.

my banging around in the kitchen woke my wife

Recent Examples on the Web

Some of Iris Nemani’s earliest memories of the arts have to do with her parents waking her up — as a very young child — late at night to watch classic movie musicals on TV. —Jim Harrington, Mercury News, 29 May 2026

The bitter, woke drumbeat is not working any more. —Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald, 28 May 2026

Private docks mean boating, wake surfing, paddleboarding and swimming without the logistics of public access. —Spencer Elliott, Forbes.com, 28 May 2026

Mohammad Al-Gharbi, who lived across the street from the building in Sidon, woke to the sound of the explosion. —Kareem Chehayeb, Chicago Tribune, 28 May 2026

Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

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

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

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

of Germanic origin