wake Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the consequences of an event (especially a catastrophic event)
    aftermath; backwash.
    • the aftermath of war
    • in the wake of the accident no one knew how many had been injured
  2. noun an island in the western Pacific between Guam and Hawaii
    Wake Island.
  3. noun the wave that spreads behind a boat as it moves forward
    backwash.
    • the motorboat's wake capsized the canoe
  4. noun a vigil held over a corpse the night before burial
    viewing.
    • there's no weeping at an Irish wake
  5. verb be awake, be alert, be there
  6. verb stop sleeping
    waken; come alive; arouse; awake; awaken; wake up.
    • She woke up to the sound of the alarm clock
  7. verb arouse or excite feelings and passions
    ignite; stir up; inflame; heat; fire up.
    • The ostentatious way of living of the rich ignites the hatred of the poor
    • The refugees' fate stirred up compassion around the world
    • Wake old feelings of hatred
  8. verb make aware of
    • His words woke us to terrible facts of the situation
  9. verb cause to become awake or conscious
    awaken; waken; arouse; rouse; wake up.
    • He was roused by the drunken men in the street
    • Please wake me at 6 AM.

WordNet

Wake noun
Etymology
Originally, an open space of water srrounded by ice, and then, the passage cut through ice for a vessel, probably of Scand. origin; cf. Icel. vök a hole, opening in ice, Sw. vak, Dan. vaage, perhaps akin to E. humid.
Definitions
  1. The track left by a vessel in the water; by extension, any track; as, the wake of an army.
    This effect followed immediately in the wake of his earliest exertions. De Quincey.
    Several humbler persons . . . formed quite a procession in the dusty wake of his chariot wheels. Thackeray.
Wake intransitive verb
Etymology
AS. wacan, wacian; akin to OFries. waka, OS. wakn, D. waken, G. wachen, OHG. wahhn, Icel. vaka, Sw. vaken, Dan. vaage, Goth. wakan, v. i., uswakjan, v. t., Skr. vajay to rouse, to impel. . Cf. Vigil, Wait, v. i., Watch, v. i.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Waked or Woke (); present participle & verbal noun Waking
Definitions
  1. To be or to continue awake; to watch; not to sleep.
    The father waketh for the daughter. Ecclus. xlii. 9.
    Though wisdom wake, suspicion sleeps. Milton.
    I can not think any time, waking or sleeping, without being sensible of it. Locke.
  2. To sit up late festive purposes; to hold a night revel.
    The king doth wake to-night, and takes his rouse, Keeps wassail, and the swaggering upspring reels. Shak.
  3. To be excited or roused from sleep; to awake; to be awakened; to cease to sleep; -- often with up.
    He infallibly woke up at the sound of the concluding doxology. G. Eliot.
  4. To be exited or roused up; to be stirred up from a dormant, torpid, or inactive state; to be active.
    Gentle airs due at their hour To fan the earth now waked. Milton.
    Then wake, my soul, to high desires. Keble.
Wake transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To rouse from sleep; to awake.
    The angel . . . came again and waked me. Zech. iv. 1.
  2. To put in motion or action; to arouse; to excite. "I shall waken all this company." Chaucer.
    Lest fierce remembrance wake my sudden rage. Milton.
    Even Richard's crusade woke little interest in his island realm. J. R. Green.
  3. To bring to life again, as if from the sleep of death; to reanimate; to revive.
    To second life Waked in the renovation of the just. Milton.
  4. To watch, or sit up with, at night, as a dead body.
Wake noun
Definitions
  1. The act of waking, or being awaked; also, the state of being awake. Obs. or Poetic
    Making such difference 'twixt wake and sleep. Shak.
    Singing her flatteries to my morning wake. Dryden.
  2. The state of forbearing sleep, especially for solemn or festive purposes; a vigil.
    The warlike wakes continued all the night, And funeral games played at new returning light. Dryden.
    The wood nymphs, decked with daises trim, Their merry wakes and pastimes keep. Milton.
  3. Specifically: (a) (Ch. of Eng.) An annual parish festival formerly held in commemoration of the dedication of a church. Originally, prayers were said on the evening preceding, and hymns were sung during the night, in the church; subsequently, these vigils were discontinued, and the day itself, often with succeeding days, was occupied in rural pastimes and exercises, attended by eating and drinking, often to excess.
    Great solemnities were made in all churches, and great fairs and wakes throughout all England. Ld. Berners.
    And every village smokes at wakes with lusty cheer. Drayton.
    (b) The sitting up of persons with a dead body, often attended with a degree of festivity, chiefly among the Irish. "Blithe as shepherd at a wake." Cowper. Chaucer.

Webster 1913