Waking definition | Dictionary.com

wake

1 [weyk]

verb, waked or woke, waked or wok⋅en, wak⋅ing, noun

–verb (used without object)

1.	to become roused from sleep; awake; awaken; waken (often fol. by up).

2.	to become roused from a tranquil or inactive state; awaken; waken: to wake from one's daydreams.

3.	to become cognizant or aware of something; awaken; waken: to wake to the true situation.

4.	to be or continue to be awake: Whether I wake or sleep, I think of you.

5.	to remain awake for some purpose, duty, etc.: I will wake until you return.

6.	to hold a wake over a corpse.

7.	to keep watch or vigil.

–verb (used with object)

8.	to rouse from sleep; awake; awaken; waken (often fol. by up): Don't wake me for breakfast. Wake me up at six o'clock.

9.	to rouse from lethargy, apathy, ignorance, etc. (often fol. by up): The tragedy woke us up to the need for safety precautions.

10.	to hold a wake for or over (a dead person).

11.	to keep watch or vigil over.

–noun

12.	a watching, or a watch kept, esp. for some solemn or ceremonial purpose.

13.	a watch or vigil by the body of a dead person before burial, sometimes accompanied by feasting or merrymaking.

14.	a local annual festival in England, formerly held in honor of the patron saint or on the anniversary of the dedication of a church but now usually having little or no religious significance.

15.	the state of being awake: between sleep and wake.

Origin:
bef. 900; (v.) in sense “to become awake” continuing ME waken, OE *wacan (found only in past tense wōc and the compounds onwacan, āwacan to become awake; see awake (v.)); in sense “to be awake” continuing ME waken, OE wacian (c. OFris wakia, OS wakōn, ON vaka, Goth wakan); in sense “to rouse from sleep” continuing ME waken, r. ME wecchen, OE weccan, prob. altered by assoc. with the other senses and with the k of ON vaka; (n.) ME: state of wakefulness, vigil (late ME: vigil over a dead body), prob. continuing OE *wacu (found only in nihtwacu night-watch); all ult. < Gmc *wak- be lively; akin to watch, vegetable, vigil

Related forms:

waker, noun

Synonyms:
8. arouse. 9. stimulate, activate, animate, kindle, provoke.

Antonyms:
1. sleep.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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wake¹ (wāk)

v. woke (wōk) or waked (wākt), waked or wok·en (wō'kən), wak·ing, wakes

v. intr.

1. To cease to sleep; become awake: overslept and woke late.
2. To stay awake: Bears wake for spring, summer, and fall and hibernate for the winter.
3. To be brought into a state of awareness or alertness: suddenly woke to the danger we were in.
To keep watch or guard, especially over a corpse.

v. tr.

To rouse from sleep; awaken.
To stir, as from a dormant or inactive condition; rouse: wake old animosities.
To make aware of; alert: The shocking revelations finally woke me to the facts of the matter.
1. To keep a vigil over.
2. To hold a wake over.

A watch; a vigil.
A watch over the body of a deceased person before burial, sometimes accompanied by festivity. Also called regionally viewing.
wakes (used with a sing. or pl. verb) Chiefly British
1. A parish festival held annually, often in honor of a patron saint.
2. An annual vacation.

[Middle English wakien, waken, from Old English wacan, to wake up and wacian, to be awake, keep watch; see weg- in Indo-European roots.]
wak'er n.

Usage Note: The pairs wake, waken and awake, awaken have formed a bewildering array since the Middle English period. All four words have similar meanings, though there are some differences in use. Only wake is used in the sense "to be awake," as in expressions like waking (not wakening) and sleeping, every waking hour. Wake is also more common than waken when used together with up, and awake and awaken never occur in this context: She woke up (rarely wakened up; never awakened up or awoke up). Some writers have suggested that waken should be used only transitively (as in The alarm wakened him) and awaken only intransitively (as in He awakened at dawn), but there is ample literary precedent for usages such as He wakened early and They did not awaken her. In figurative senses awake and awaken are more prevalent: With the governor's defeat the party awoke to the strength of the opposition to its position on abortion. The scent of the gardenias awakened my memory of his unexpected appearance that afternoon years ago.

Regional American dialects vary in the way that certain verbs form their principal parts. Northern dialects seem to favor forms that change the internal vowel in the verb—hence dove for the past tense of dive, and woke for wake: They woke up with a start. Southern dialects, on the other hand, tend to prefer forms that add an -ed to form the past tense and the past participle of these same verbs: The children dived into the swimming hole. The baby waked up early.

wak·ing (wā'kĭng)

adj. Marked by full consciousness, awareness, and alertness: worked every moment of my waking hours.

Waking

Wak"ing\, n. 1. The act of waking, or the state or period of being awake.

2. A watch; a watching. [Obs.] "Bodily pain . . . standeth in prayer, in wakings, in fastings." --Chaucer.

In the fourth waking of the night. --Wyclif (Matt. xiv. 25).

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