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
Dr. Brent Gawey, ABC News, 8 Jan. 2025
Globally, the incident serves as a wake-up call for institutions managing sensitive or critical data.
—Kevin Lynn, Newsweek, 7 Jan. 2025
Summer Lin, Los Angeles Times, 18 Jan. 2025
This forces the person using it to wake up, which is all part of Lottie's plan.
—Yaakov Katz, Newsweek, 17 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for wake-up 
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Adjective
Factors including shift work or wake-up times could also play a role.
—Dr. Brent Gawey, ABC News, 8 Jan. 2025
Globally, the incident serves as a wake-up call for institutions managing sensitive or critical data.
—Kevin Lynn, Newsweek, 7 Jan. 2025
Verb
Every other day, Joseph McKinney, Joseph Sevilla and Sal Almanza wake up around 4 a.m. and eat breakfast at their base camp at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena before heading up the San Gabriel Mountains to do battle with one of the most destructive fires in Los Angeles County history.
—Summer Lin, Los Angeles Times, 18 Jan. 2025
This forces the person using it to wake up, which is all part of Lottie's plan.
—Yaakov Katz, Newsweek, 17 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for wake-up
Dictionary Entries Near wake-up
Cite this Entry
“Wake-up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wake-up. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.
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