wake up
Etymology

From wake + up.

Pronunciation
  • (RP, America) IPA: /ˌweɪk ˈʌp/, [ˌweɪˈkʌp]
Verb

wake up (third-person singular simple present wakes up, present participle waking up, simple past woke up or waked up, past participle woken up or waked up)

  1. (intransitive) To stop sleeping; to awake.
    • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC ↗:
      I made a speaking trumpet of my hands and commenced to whoop “Ahoy!” and “Hello!” at the top of my lungs. […] The Colonel woke up, and, after asking what in brimstone was the matter, opened his mouth and roared “Hi!” and “Hello!” like the bull of Bashan.
    • 1967, John Lennon/Paul McCartney, A Day in the Life:
      "Woke up, fell out of bed, dragged a comb across my head"
  2. (transitive) To awaken somebody.
    Wake your brother up; it's time for school.
  3. (intransitive) To become more aware of a real-life situation; to concentrate on the matter in hand.
    Some businesses were slow to wake up to the importance of the Internet.
    That's the third time you've made the same mistake. Wake up!
Translations Translations Translations


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