wake-up

1 of 2

adjective

ˈwāk-ˌəp

: serving to wake up

a wake-up alarm

wake up

2 of 2

verb

woke up also waked up; woken up also waked up; waking up; wakes up

transitive + intransitive

: awake entry 1, wake entry 1: such as

: 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

: to rouse (a person or animal) from or as if from sleep

The sound of a door slamming woke him up.

: 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 to

a 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

: to make (something) active : arouse, stir

"And what joy and cheerfulness it wakes up within us, to see all nature beaming in brightness and sunshine …" added Alice …—

Charles Dickens

Examples of wake-up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

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Adjective

At the same time, take this as a cold splash of water and a wake-up call. —

Lance Eliot, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024 For those handling government contracts or CUI, this is a wake-up call: cybersecurity can no longer be an afterthought. —

Emil Sayegh, Forbes, 4 Nov. 2024

Verb

This ranking may change as the day progresses, especially as music lovers in the western half of the United States wake up and learn of what new albums and songs have been released. —

Hugh McIntyre, Forbes, 22 Nov. 2024 Per his lawsuit, Doe fell unconscious, woke up in the same room the next morning and was instructed to leave by Combs' security team. —

Kimi Robinson, USA TODAY, 21 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for wake-up