awake
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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to wake up; rouse from sleep.
I awoke at six with a feeling of dread.
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to rouse to action; become active.
His flagging interest awoke.
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to come or bring to an awareness; become cognizant (often followed byto ).
She awoke to the realities of life.
adjective
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waking; not sleeping.
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vigilant; alert.
They were awake to the danger.
verb
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to emerge or rouse from sleep; wake
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to become or cause to become alert
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(usually foll by to) to become or make aware (of)
to awake to reality
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Also: awaken. (tr) to arouse (feelings, etc) or cause to remember (memories, etc)
adjective
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not sleeping
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(sometimes foll by to) lively or alert
Other Word Forms
- awakeable adjective
- half-awake adjective
- reawake verb
- unawake adjective
- unawakeable adjective
- unawaked adjective
- unawaking adjective
Etymology
Origin of awake
First recorded before 1000; Middle English awaken, Old English awacen, past participle of awæcnan; a 1, waken
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Traitors are often awake until the wee hours filming turret scenes.
From Salon
It was two in the morning when upstairs, Leah, Mother, and the girls awoke to the stomping sound of marching feet.
From Literature
When he had awoken that morning, he had next to nothing in his cave, but now he had a cozy home.
From Literature
I lay awake that night for a long time.
From Literature
So in spite of rising authoritarianism around the world, here’s what gives me hope: More people are awake than ever before.
From Salon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
