wake

verb

/weɪk/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they wake	/weɪk/ /weɪk/
he / she / it wakes	/weɪks/ /weɪks/
past simple woke	/wəʊk/ /wəʊk/
past participle woken	/ˈwəʊkən/ /ˈwəʊkən/
-ing form waking	/ˈweɪkɪŋ/ /ˈweɪkɪŋ/

Idioms Phrasal Verbs

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[intransitive, transitive] to stop sleeping; to make somebody stop sleeping
- I always wake early in the summer.
- Tom woke with a start and lifted his head.
- wake up What time do you usually wake up in the morning?
- I woke up an hour earlier than I wanted to.
- wake to something (formal) They woke to a clear blue sky.
- I woke to the sound of heavy rain outside.
- wake from something (formal) She had just woken from a deep sleep.
- wake up to do something He woke up to find himself alone in the house.
- wake to do something The woman woke to see the defendant in her bedroom.
- wake somebody I was woken by the sound of someone moving around.
- wake somebody up Try not to wake the baby up.
Which Word? awake / awaken / wake up / waken
awake / awaken / wake up / waken
- Wake (up) is the most common of these verbs. It can mean somebody has finished sleeping: What time do you usually wake up? or that somebody or something has disturbed your sleep: The children woke me up.I was woken (up) by the telephone.
- The verb awake is usually only used in writing and in the past tense awoke: She awoke to a day of brilliant sunshine. Waken and awaken are much more formal. Awaken is used especially in literature: The Prince awakened Sleeping Beauty with a kiss.
- Awake is also an adjective: I was awake half the night worrying.Is the baby awake yet? Waking is not used in this way.
see also asleep, sleep
Extra Examples
- Any minute now she'd wake up to find herself at home safe in bed.
- Be careful not to wake the children!
- She had just woken up from a deep sleep.
- She had woken even earlier than usual.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adverb
- gently
verb + wake
- be careful not to
- not want to
- try not to
- …
See full entry
[transitive] wake something (literary or formal) to make somebody remember something or feel something again
- The incident woke memories of his past sufferings.

Word Originverb Old English (recorded only in the past tense wōc), also partly from the weak verb wacian ‘remain awake, hold a vigil’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch waken and German wachen; compare with watch.

Idioms

wake up and smell the coffee

(informal) used to tell somebody to become aware of what is really happening in a situation, especially when this is something unpleasant

wake

noun

/weɪk/

Idioms

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an occasion before or after a funeral when people gather to remember the dead person, traditionally held the night before the funeral to watch over the body before it is buriedTopics Life stagesc2
enlarge image
the track that a boat or ship leaves behind on the surface of the waterTopics Transport by waterc2

Word Originnoun sense 1 Old English (recorded only in the past tense wōc), also partly from the weak verb wacian ‘remain awake, hold a vigil’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch waken and German wachen; compare with watch. noun sense 2 late 15th cent. (denoting a track made by a person or thing): probably via Middle Low German from Old Norse vǫk, vaka ‘hole or opening in ice’.

Idioms

in the wake of somebody/something

coming after or following somebody/something
- There have been demonstrations on the streets in the wake of the recent bomb attack.
- A group of reporters followed in her wake.
- The storm left a trail of destruction in its wake.