wake up

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Contents

English [edit]

Etymology [edit]

wake + up

Pronunciation [edit]

  • Audio (UK)
    		(file)

Verb [edit]

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 awake.
  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!

Usage notes [edit]

When used in the context of waking up to something or someone, it insinuates that the target is near the subject when the subject wakes, often inferring every morning. Furthermore, when used regarding a person, it insinuates that the subject and the target have slept together, the subject awakening in bed to see the target in the same bed. Two people waking up to each other every morning insinuates that they sleep together so nightly, and thus are very intimate with each other.

Derived terms [edit]

Translations [edit]

To (become) awake
To awaken (someone else)
To become more aware of a real-life situation.
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