Forms: Inf. and Present stem. α. (? 1 wæcnan: see WAKEN v.) β. 1–2 wacian, 1 waciʓan, waciʓean, wæcian, 1–2 wacyan, 2 wacyʓan, 2–3 wakian, wakien, wakeȝen, 3 wakenn (Orm.), 3–5 waken, 4 waki, waky, 4–5 wakke, waake, 3– wake. north. and Sc. 4 wack, vak (pr. pple. vakand, wacand, quakand), 4–5 wak, 4–6 waik, valk, 4–8 walk, 5 waulk, 6 vaik(e, walke, 8 wauk, wawk. Pa. t. α. 1 wóc, 3–4 woc, 3–5 wok, 4–6 wook(e, 7 wake, 9 ’woke, 3– woke; pl. 3 wokenn (Orm.), 4–5 woken, -yn, 5 waken. north. and Sc. 4 wock, 4–6 wouk(e, woik(e. β. 1 wæcade, wacode, pl. wacedon, -odon, 2–4 wakede, 4–5 wakid, walkid(e, etc., 4–6 Sc. walkyt, -it, 6 wakt(e, 6–7 wak’t, 7–8 wak’d, 4– waked. α. 4, 6 waken, 5 wakyn (?), 7, 9– woken, 8– woke. β. 4 i-waked, Sc. walkit, 4–6 wakid, -yd, 6 dial. wayket, Sc. walked, 6–7 wakt, 7 wak’t, 7–8 wak’d, 3– waked. [Two distinct but synonymous verbs from the same root coalesced in early ME.:
(i) The strong verb OE. (? wæcnan), wóc, wócon, *wacen. (The present-stem is wanting, unless it be presented by wæcnan: see WAKEN v.) The strong pa. t. is found only in English; the strong pa. pple., not recorded in OE., but found in later periods, occurs in ON. vakenn, and as adj. (‘awake’) in MSw. vakin, Sw., Norw. vaken, Da. vaagen; NFris. vaaken is prob. from Scandinavian.
(ii) The weak verb OE. wacian, corresponding to OFris. wakia, waka (mod. WFris. weitsje, NFris. waake), OHG. wahhên, wachên, -ân (MHG., mod.G. wachen), ON. vaka, pa. t. vakða (Norw., MSw., Sw. vaka, Da. vaage), Goth. wakan:—OTeut. *wakǣjan (whence also the OE. doublet wæccan WATCH v.), or to OS., OLow Frankish wakon (MDu., Du., MLG., LG. waken), OHG. wachôn:—OTeut. *wakōjan.
The Teut. root *wak- (: *wōk- in Goth. wōkains wakefulness, and, with different sense, in Goth. wōkr-s, OE. wōcor, ON. okr growth, increase, usury: see OCKER sb.) represents a pre-Teut. *wag- : *weg-; cf. L. vegēre to rouse, excite, also intr. to be lively or active, vigēre to be vigorous, vigil wakeful, Skr. vājas neut. vigor; perh. to be referred to the Indo-Eur. root *aweg-, represented by L. augēre, Goth. aukan to increase, OE. éacan to grow (see EKE v.), and with -s extension by Gr. αὐξάνειν to increase, OTeut. *waχs- to grow (see WAX v.).
In OE. the strong verb had probably the sense ‘to become awake,’ though this is evidenced only in the compound on-wæcnan, the simple verb being found only in the sense ‘to come into being,’ which may either be a figurative use of the sense ‘to awake,’ or represent a different application of the original wider sense of the root. The weak verb had the static sense ‘to be or remain awake.’ In ME. the strong and weak forms came to be used indiscriminately in both senses. Out of the sense ‘to become awake’ there was developed a causative sense, ‘to rouse from sleep,’ in which the word superseded WECCHE (OE. węccan:—OTeut. *wakjan). The sense ‘to remain awake, watch’ gave rise to a transitive use = ‘to watch (over)’; but in the modern Eng. period the static sense, both intr. and trans., has become almost obsolete, the usual meanings of the word being to become or cause to become awake.’
The mod. pa. t. woke does not regularly represent the OE. wóc, which would have yielded wook. Apparently the mod. woke is a new formation or modification on the analogy of broke, spoke (for the irregularity in the vowel cf. stove pa. t. of STAVE v.). When this came in is uncertain, for in ME. and prob. in early mod.E. the spelling woke represents the regular phonetic descendant of the OE. wóc. The pa. pple. waken has always been rare, and now survives only in dialects in adjectival use. From the 17th c. onwards the forms woke, woken (after broke, broken, spoke, spoken, etc.) have been more or less current for the pa. pple.; woken seems obsolescent, but woke is at least as frequent as waked. No strong forms either of pa. t. or pa. pple. are found in Shaks., the Bible of 1611, or Milton’s verse.]
I. To remain awake.
1. intr. To be or remain awake; to keep oneself, or be kept, awake. Also, to be still up and about (at night). Now rare exc. in waking (pr. pple. and ppl. a.).
α. c. 1290. Beket, 687, in S. Eng. Leg., 126. On of is seriaunz sat a niȝt, þe ȝwile þat men woke, In his chaumbre at caunterburi.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 20127. Scho wok wil mar þan scho slepp.
a. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xxx. (Theodera), 448. To þat worde gud tent he tuk, & þat nycht mekyl woike.
1387. Trevisa, Higden, IV. 303. Whanne Cinna his tresoun was i-knowe Cesar wook al þat nyȝt [MS. β wakid, γ wakede].
c. 1450. Mirk’s Festial, 223. Þay madyn her bed, and dydyn hur þeryn,… and waken tyll hyt was mydnyght; then all fellyn on slepe saue þe apostols.
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, xlii. 34. Langour … That nevir sleipit bot evir wouke.
1535. Stewart, Cron. Scot., II. 558. So greit displesour in the tyme he tuik, But meit or sleip rycht lang fastit and woik.
1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair, lxii. Whether he woke or slept his friends did not very much miss him.
β. c. 900. Beda’s Hist., II. xii. (1890), 28. Ða fræʓn he hine, hwæt þæs to him lumpe, hwæðer he wacode þe slepe.
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., III. 6. Þonne sceal se man wacyan ealle þa niht þe ðone drenc drincan wille.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 4. Þet techeð al hu me schal … eten, drincken, werien, liggen, slepen, wakien [sic MS.; printed walkien].
c. 1381. Chaucer, Parl. Foules, 482. I wol ben hirs whethir I wake or wynke.
c. 1400. 26 Pol. Poems, xv. 88. To slepe, quod þe eyȝe, we may not wynne, Þe wrecched wombe so doþ vs wake.
c. 1450. St. Cuthbert (Surtees), 2791. Þe seke man to slepe lyse; he had lang waked beforne.
c. 1500. Melusine, 7. He … knew nat yf it was daylight or nyght, ne yf he slept or wakked.
1508. Dunbar, Tua Mariit Wemen, 213. Than ly I walkand for wa, and walteris about.
1611. Tourneur, Ath. Trag., II. vi. I cannot force myselfe to wake. (sleepes).
1640. trans. Verdere’s Rom. of Rom., II. 23. The extream desire that he had to see her, made him to wake when others tooke their rest.
17[?]. Auld Man’s best Argt., in Ramsay’s Tea-t. Misc. (1762), 154. O Wha’s that at my chamber door? ‘Fair widow, are ye wawking?’
1784. R. Bage, Barham Downs, I. 32. I … threw myself dressed upon the bed, and—waked all night.
1790. Burns, Ay waukin O. When I sleep I dream, When I wauk I’m eerie.
1840. Dickens, Old C. Shop, lxx. They cannot … be waking at this late hour.
1855. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., xviii. IV. 217. In all places, at all hours, whether he waked or slept.
1902. Violet Jacob, Sheep-Stealers, ix. Waking and sleeping she had pictured his arrest.
fig. c. 1697. Congreve, Mourn. Bride, III. i. Reason,… the twinkling Lamp Of wand’ring Life, that winks and wakes by turns.
b. with advb. obj. the night, a night (poet.). Also, to wake it.
α. c. 1480. Henryson, Test. Cresseid, 471. Weping, scho woik the nicht fra end to end.
β. a. 1547. Surrey, in Tottel’s Misc. (Arb.), 221. To waile the day and wake the night continually in paine.
1760–71. H. Brooke, Fool of Qual. (1809), I. 58. These have nothing to do but to sleep it, to wake it.
1787. Burns, ‘My heart is sair,’ i. I could wake a winter night For the sake o’ somebody.
1820. Keats, Isabella, vii. So once more he had wak’d and anguished A dreary night of love and misery.
c. quasi-trans. with complement.
In the first quot. the omission of some such word as Theobald’s ‘blind’ seems certain.
1611. Shaks., Cymb., III. iv. 104. Ile wake mine eye-balles [blind] first.
1766. C. Beatty, Tour (1768), 37. Sleeped and waked the night away as well as we could.
† d. With unfavorable implication: To sit up late for pleasure or revelry; to turn night into day. Obs.
α. 13[?]. Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 1025. For-þy wonderly þay woke, & þe wyn dronken.
β. 1340. Ayenb., 52. Þet uolk þet late louieþ to soupi and to waki be niȝte.
1387–8. T. Usk, Test. Love, II. ii. (Skeat), l. 54. Suche there ben … that til midnight and more wol playe and wake, but in the churche at matins he is behynde.
a. 1529. Skelton, Bowge of Courte, 382. Thou muste … wake all nyghte, and slepe tyll it be none.
1602. Shaks., Ham., I. iv. 8. The King doth wake to night, aud takes his rouse.
2. To stay awake for the purpose of watching or tending; to keep watch while others sleep, be on guard at night. Const. on, upon, over, for, against; also to (do something). Also with cognate obj., to wake watch. Now only dial., to sit up at night with a person, esp. one who is sick.
In 16th c. Sc. use wake and ward (see WARD v.) = ‘to keep watch and ward,’ as a duty incumbent on the freeman of a burgh.
α. c. 1200. Ormin, 3752. Hirdess wokenn o þatt nahht Þatt Crist wass borenn onne.
c. 1400. Rowland & Otuel, 1187. Grete lordes riste toke, & nyghte wache full worthily wooke.
1430–40. Lydg., Bochas, III. vii. (1554), 79 b. And lyke a mother to bryng thee aslepe, I woke ful oft.
1471. Caxton, Recuyell (Sommer), 284. By this gardyn is vnderstonde the yle. By the serpent wakyng, the subtyll geant commysid to kepe hit that allway wook at the paas.
β. Beowulf, 660. Waca wið wraþum.
c. 825. Vesp. Psalter, cxxvi. 1. In vanum vigilant qui custodiunt eam, in idelnisse wæciað ða haldað hie.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 31. Þe herdes þe wakeden ouer here oref.
c. 1350. Leg. Rood, 76/525. And seker men he sett to wake, So þat þai suld no harmes take.
c. 1465. Eng. Chron. (Camden, 1856), 62. Alle the weyez about the said toun off Bury … were kept with gret multitude of peple of the cuntre, wakyng day and nyghte.
1511. in Marwick, Edin. Guilds (1909), 65. The communitie of the wobstaris walkis, wardis, extentis, and beris all other commoun chargis within this toune.
1533. Bellenden, Livy, III. ix. (S.T.S.), I. 282. Na thing was done in þe nycht following Except onelie be pepill walkit in all partis of þe ciete.
1565. J. Hall, Crt. Vertue, 32. Watchmen, whiche wake al ye night.
1580. in Rec. Convent. Burghs Scot. (1870), I. 99. All … to cum duell … within the burgh quhair they ar frie, hald stob and staik within the samyn, scatt, loitt, watche, walk and waird with the inhabitantis thairof.
1667. Milton, P. L., XI. 368. Let Eve … Here sleep below while thou to foresight wak’st.
1699. R. L’Estrange, Erasm. Colloq. (1725), 195. Only let one wake with me, to read to me.
1754. J. Shebbeare, Matrimony (1766), I. 22. She determined to wake by his Bed-side all Night.
1811. Willan, West Riding Words, in Archæologia, XVII. 162. Waite, and Wake, v. to sit up with a person all night, or to watch by a corpse.
1847. C. Brontë, Jane Eyre, xxv. You promised to wake with me the night before my wedding.
1865. N. & Q., Ser. III. VII. 84/1. ‘They have waked with him for several nights,’ is a common expression in Lancashire.
1883. Almondbury Gloss., Wake, to watch with a sick person; to work by candlelight.
† b. fig.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Matt. xxiv. 42. Waciʓeað [v.rr. Waciað, Waciʓað] witodlice, forþam þe ʓe nyton on hwylcyre tide eower Hlaford cuman wyle.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 41. Ðus aȝen alle gode herdes to wakeȝen gostliche.
c. 1200. Ormin, 3792. To frofrenn þa þatt wakenn wel Onnȝæness laþe gastess.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., C. 130. Þe welder of wyt … þat ay wakes & waytes.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 142. Þo fende is a theff to wake on mon bothe day and nyȝt.
c. 1480. Henryson, Swallow & other Birds, 304. Exhortand folk to walk and ay be wair Fra nettis of oure wickit enemie.
1562. Winȝet, Wks. (S.T.S.), I. 6. War ȝe commandit in vaine of God … to walke attentlie and continualie vpon ȝour flok?
† c. said of the eyes, the brain. Obs.
1601. Sir J. Ogle, in Sir F. Vere, Comm., 152. He had his head and his hands full; ours had not aked now, had not his waked then … for our safeties.
1602. B. Jonson, Poetaster, Envie, 4. This is it, That our sunke eyes haue wak’t for, all this while.
1639. Du Verger, trans. Camus’ Admir. Events, 122. The power of heaven, whose eies are ever waking on miserable creatures.
1667. Milton, P. L., V. 44. Heav’n wakes with all his eyes, Whom to behold but thee, Natures desire.
3. To stay awake or pass the night in prayer; to stay up during the night as an exercise of devotion; to keep vigil (in church, by a corpse, etc.). Const. in, on. Obs. exc. dial.
α. 1303. R. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 8043. Þe toþer nyȝt þat þe chyldryn woke, At e mydnyȝt þe bere quoke.
c. 1330. Assump. Virg. (Add. MS.), 761. Thei leide þe bodi in a stone … And woke þer al þat nyȝt With many torches & candle lyȝt.
1387. Trevisa, Higden, V. 191. He … wook al þat nyȝt in his prayers.
1483. Caxton, Golden Leg., 87/3. He woke in prayers and made hys body lene.
β. c. 1000. Ælfric, Saints’ Lives, xxi. 290. Hwilon wacodon menn swa swa hit ʓewunelic is ofer an dead lic.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 276. Bihold, holie men þet weren sumehwules, hwu heo uesten, & hwu heo wakeden.
c. 1290. St. Scholastica, 8, in S. Eng. Leg., 198. He … teiȝte hire penaunce forto don, to faste and to wake.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XX. 368. Tyl contricioun hadde clene forȝeten to crye & to wepe And wake for his wykked werkes as he was wont to done.
c. 1450. Mirk’s Festial, 182. Men and woymen … wakyd in þe chyrch al þe nyht yn hor deuocions.
1900. H. Sutcliffe, Shameless Wayne, xxvi. (1905), 333. Soon as he is dead, you are to come with your folk to wake beside the body.
† 4. To stay awake for any work or active occupation; to pass the night in work, study, etc. Const. in, for, on or upon, to. Obs.
α. 1471. Ripley, Comp. Alch., I. ix. in Ashm. (1652), 13. For thys I wooke: Many a nyght or I hyt wyst.
1481. Caxton, Godfrey, clxxix. 264. They woke al the nyght as wel they as theyr peple, in such wyse that theyr engyns were alle ioyned and reysed vp byfore day.
1517. Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot., V. 157. Item, to the franche talbanaris and menstralis that woik and playit all that nycht, in aile, viij s.
β. c. 900. Bæda’s Hist., IV. xxv. (1890), 354. Alle … oððe hefiʓe slæpe syndon, oððe to synnum wacedon.
c. 1300. Havelok, 2999. Þat ilke of you … Seye a pater-noster stille For him þat haueth þe rym maked, And þer-fore fele nihtes waked.
1352. Minot, Poems, i. 51. Many nightes als haue þai waked To dere all Ingland with þaire dede.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Miller’s T., 168. Absolon his gyterne hath ytake, For paramours he thoghte for to wake.
1480. Caxton, Myrr., I. v. 17. They waked & studyed many nyghtes and many dayes.
a. 1593. Marlowe, Massacre at Paris, 105 (Brooke). For this, I wake, when others think I sleepe.
1593. Shaks., 2 Hen. VI., I. i. 249. Watch thou, and wake when others be asleepe, To prie into the secrets of the State.
† b. fig. To be active, alert, stirring, vigilant. Const. as above; also, to be diligent, exert oneself to (do something). To wake over, to occupy one’s mind with. Obs.
α. 1352. Minot, Poems, ix. 33. Wele haue þai waken, For syr Dauid þe Bruse was in þat tyme taken.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xxvii. (Machor), 1468. & fra þat he sic charge tuk, he trawalyt besyly & wok till his discipulis for to preche, & als þe puple besyly teche.
β. c. 897. K. Ælfred, Gregory’s Past. C., lxiv. 461. Sc kok … hefð up his fiðru, & wecð hine selfne, ðæt he wacie on ðære ʓeornfulnesse godra weorca.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 142. Myche more in state of synne schulde mon wake in Gods servise.
c. 1383. in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1911), Oct., 749. Prelatis & seculer lordis shulden wake diligentli [diligenter vigilarent] to ordeyne able prelatis & curatis.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, V. 655. On other thing he maid his witt to walk.
1501. Douglas, Pal. Hon., III. xviii. All thir on Venus seruice vaikis.
1771. Goldsm., Hist. Eng., IV. 77. He incessantly waked over the schemes of contending kings and nations.
1866. Kingsley, Herew., v. I have other things to wake over than making love to you.
† c. With clause: To take care that (something be done). Obs.
a. 1425. trans. Arderne’s Treat. Fistula, etc., 38. Þerfore wake ȝe þat ȝe putte noȝt ȝoure hand to þis but in giffyng clisteries.
† d. quasi-trans. To give diligent heed to, be active in (a matter). Obs. (Cf. SLEEP v. 7.)
1525. Ld. Berners, Froiss. (1812), II. cxiii. [cix]. 326. The emperour … slept nat his busynes, but waked the mater, as ye shall here.
5. Phr. To † hold or keep waking; earlier, † to hold waken: To prevent from sleeping; to keep watchful or on the alert. † Formerly: To keep (a person, esp. an enemy) occupied, ‘give (him) plenty to do,’ allow (him) no rest; to trouble, harass; also refl. to be on the alert.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. Wace (Rolls), 9196. When þe Bretons þe hil had taken, Wyþ sege þe Payens held þem waken. Ibid., 9914. No scape ȝit þe toun had taken, For þey wyþynne held þem wel waken.
1352. Minot, Poems, ix. 50. He wakkind þe were þat held him self waken.
c. 1410. Lantern of Light, 52. Þei … holden waken her ynward iȝe.
1533. Bellenden, Livy, II. xxvi. (S.T.S.), I. 238. [He] causit horsmen with swasche and taberne to play all nycht about þe trynchis, to hald þare Inemyis walkand to þe morow.
1535. Coverdale, Ps. lxxvi[i]. 4. Thou heldest myne eyes wakynge.
1549. Compl. Scot., 6. Ȝour nobil fadir held the grit armye of enemeis valkand on ther tothir syde, throucht the grit assaltis ande escarmuschis that he maid contrar them.
1568. Grafton, Chron., I. 366. Then to followe the Frenche men, but not immediately to fight with them, and to harry them and keepe them waking.
1593. Shaks., Lucr., 1136. Whiles against a thorne thou bear’st thy part, To keepe thy sharpe woes waking.
1624. Fletcher, Rule a Wife, V. iii. 67. Have I not kept thee waking like a hawk? And watch’d thee with delights to satisfy thee.
a. 1670. Spalding, Troub. Chas. I. (Bannatyne Club), I. 2. Thus they lived as outlaws, oppressing the countrie,… and openly avowed they had tane this course to get their own possessions again, or then hold the country walking.
1719. De Foe, Crusoe, I. (Globe), 162. This confusion of my Thoughts kept me waking all Night.
1793. Minstrel, I. 87. She was heard by the person who lodged in a room adjoining the closet, and who had been kept waking by ill health.
6. trans. To watch or guard (one who sleeps); to watch or guard (a person or thing) at night or while others sleep; to keep watch upon or over. Obs. exc. dial.
α. c. 1200. Ormin, 3773. Þa wakemenn Þatt wokenn heore faldess.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, ii. (Paulus), 355. He set it vpe beside his falde, quhare þat he wok his fe one nycht.
c. 1400. Maundev. (1839), xiii. 145. O tyme befelle, that a Kyng of Ermonye … woke that Hauk sum tyme.
c. 1440. Jacob’s Well, 53. On a nyȝt as he wooke his dyche of colys.
c. 1480. Henryson, Fox, Wolf & Husb., 144. He chaippit frome thair ill, And on his feit wouke [v.r. woke] the dure quhill day.
1504. Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot., II. 424. Item, to the man that woke the fald all ȝeir quhair the deir was tane, xiiijs.
β. a. 1300. Cursor M., 18660. Ne iesus … Moght neuer dei … Ne slepe, þat has to wak us all.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., B. 85. Þen þay cayred & com þat þe cost waked.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, VII. 179. May I trast the me to valk, Till I a litill slepyng tak?
a. 1450. Le Morte Arth., 2591. Lordyngis, a whyle I rede we lende And oure worthy wallys wake.
a. 1529. Skelton, P. Sparowe, 668. How Scipion dyd wake The cytye of Cartage.
1543–4. Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot., VIII. 250. Item, to thre men quhilk be the space of tua nychtis walkit the saidis boittis.
1596. Dalrymple, trans. Leslie’s Hist. Scot., II. 389. The peiple was compelit to wake the barnes.
1790. Burns, Tam Glen, vii. The last Halloween I was waukin My droukit sark-sleeve, as ye ken.
b. To keep watch or vigil over (a dead body) until burial; to hold a wake over (see WAKE sb.1 3). Now only dial.
α. c. 1300. Beket, 2215. In a bere faire hi hit leide and tofore an auter hit woke.
c. 1440. Jacob’s Well, 187. Hyre sone,… munke, & here dowȝter, a nunne, wokyn here body iij. nyȝtes in cherche.
β. c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 2516. Hise liche was spice-like maked, And longe egipte-like waked.
1303. R. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 8034. To wake here body were þey set: Þe fyrst nyght þat þey shulde here wake, At mydnyȝt þe bere gan to quake.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, XIII. 513. Than till a kirk he gert hym be Brocht, and walkit all that nycht.
a. 1500. Chaucer’s Dreme, 1906. The corses, which with torche light, They waked hadde there all that night.
1548. Lancs. Wills (1860), II. 199. My dettes taykyne vppe and payde and my bodye extyneguseshed honestly wayket broghfurth and buryd.
1819. W. S. Rose, Lett. N. Italy, I. 250. They wake their dead the night before interment, performing certain games about the bier.
1824. Scott, Redgauntlet, Let. xi. Naebody cared to wake Sir Robert Redgauntlet like another corpse.
1834. Marryat, P. Simple, li. May you die of a good old age … and be waked handsomely.
† c. ? To pass the night by (a well) as a superstitious observance. Obs.
c. 1430. in Rel. Antiq., I. 1. I have forsworne hit whil I life, to wake the well. The last tyme I the wel woke, Sir John caght me with a croke.
† d. To be confined in (prison). Obs.
1338. R. Brunne, Chron. (1725), 160. If he of his mot take ouþer erle or baroun, His prison suld be wake, þat wer deppest donjoun.
II. To become awake.
7. intr. To come out of the state of sleep or unconsciousness; to be roused from sleep, cease to sleep. Const. † of (obs.), from, out of (sleep, etc.); to (a condition or state), to (do something). Cf. AWAKE v. 1.
α. c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 2111. Ðe king abraid and woc in ðhogt.
c. 1375. Lay., 25566. Þo he woc [c. 1205 awoc] of sleape.
c. 1300. Havelok, 2093. Aboute þe middel of þe nith Wok Ubbe, and saw a mikel lith.
1387. Trevisa, Higden, VII. 411. He … wook of his sleep, and heet brynge liȝt.
c. 1435. Torr. Portugal, 280. Ye, seyd Torrent, ore he be wakyn, I schall the tell soche a tokyn.
c. 1480. Henryson, Lion & Mouse, 97. Till at the last the noble lyoun woke [v.r. wouk].
1523. Ld. Berners, Froiss. (1812), I. cccxxii. 501. The watchmen were halfe aslepe, and herde the noyse and woke.
1603. Harsnet, Popish Impost., 196. This exam[inant] confesseth, that diuers of them were such toyes, as came into her head being woken.
1669. P. Henry, Diaries & Lett. (1882), 214. About two or three o’clock in ye morning hee wake.
1833. J. H. Newman, Lett., 23 Jan. (1891), I. 334. I … have almost ever since woke at that hour and fancied it morning.
1869. Thirlwall, Rem. (1878), III. 400. He woke, we trust, from that ghastly nightmare to find himself in the light of a Father’s countenance.
1901. Rider Haggard, Lysbeth, xxv. 404. He had woken in the night and seen it standing at his bedside.
β. c. 1275. Lay., 28082. Þo gan ich to wakie [c. 1205 iwakien].
a. 1300. K. Horn, 444. Rymenhild … wakede of hire swoȝning.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. V. 3. Þenne wakede I of my wink.
1560. Rolland, Seven Sages, 54. This gud hound rais, and of his sleip did walk.
1565. Stapleton, trans. Bede’s Hist. Ch. Eng., 158. When I waked, as it were oute of a greate slumber.
1611. Chapman, May-Day, V. 76. Imagining when she wak’t shee had something to say to me.
1719. De Foe, Crusoe, I. (Globe), 202. I wak’d with this Thought.
1787. Burns, ‘Again rejoicing Nature,’ iii. A dream of ane that never wauks.
1850. Geo. Eliot, in Cross, Life (1885), II. 232. I waked to find the six horses resolutely refusing … to move the diligence.
1919. J. D. Beresford, Jervaise Comedy, xv. 268. I came down from my clouds with a feeling of bitter disappointment, a sense of waking from perfect dreams to the realisation of a hard, inimical world.
b. with up.
α. 1837. Dickens, Pickw., xxviii. ‘Oh, you’ve woke up at last, have you!’ said Sam.
1864. Dasent, Jest & Earnest (1873), II. 288. Next morning Bard woke up to find Haldor busy packing up his baggage.
β. 1533. Gau, Richt Vay (S.T.S.), 63. Thair sal mony vaik wp of thayme quhilk slepis in the ȝeird.
1535. Coverdale, Joel i. 5. Wake vp ye dronckardes, & wepe.
1850. Susan Warner, Wide World, xxii. Ellen barely waked up to feel herself lifted from the floor.
1879. Leisure Hour, 742/1. He had been asleep and had waked up.
1901. F. Harrison, Autob. Mem. (1911), II. 203. Ah! when the dream is over—and I wake up to find myself an average magazine writer.
c. transf. and fig., esp. of inanimate things. Of persons (usually with up): To become animated, alert or lively, to throw off lethargy.
It may be noted here that the only recorded sense of OE. wæcnan is ‘to come into being, be born.’
α. a. 1814. Gonzanga, I. ii. in New Brit. Theat., III. 104. The sleeping zephyrs woke to fan her bosom.
1844. S. Wilberforce, Hist. Prot. Episc. Ch. Amer. (1846), 46. Whenever this [sc. conscience] awoke, the struggle followed between him in whom it woke, and those who sought to keep it sleeping.
1859. FitzGerald, Omar, viii. A thousand Blossoms with the Day Woke.
1838. Daily News, 22 Oct., 2/1. Even little Tasmania has woken up.
β. 1523. Ld. Berners, Froiss. (1812), I. cccxlviii. 556. Johan Lyon was well aduertysed of all these matters: than he began a lytell to wake.
1535. Coverdale, Isa. li 9. Wake vp, wake vp, & be stronge: O thou arme of the Lorde.
1646. Crashaw, Steps to Temple, 43. Newly they Peep’t from their buds, shew’d like the Gardens eyes Scarce wak’t.
1849. M. Arnold, In utrumque paratus, ii. O waking on a world which thus-wise springs! Whether it needs thee count Betwixt thy waking and the birth of things Ages or hours: O waking on Life’s stream!
1905. R. Bagot, Passport, xvii. 153. The landscape … waking up to a new day.
d. To wake to: to become conscious or aware of; to become ‘alive’ to. Cf. AWAKE v. 3.
α. 1836. Lytton, Athens (1837), II. 129. When the Greeks first woke to the certainty, that the vast preparations of Xerxes menaced Greece as the earliest victim.
1862. J. F. Stephen, Ess. Barrister, 108. The great standing controversies which have exercised the intellect of mankind ever since it first woke to consciousness of its powers.
1863. S. Wilberforce, Ess. (1874), I. 312. The Church … had woke up to the sense of her true position.
β. 1895. W. R. W. Stephens, Life & Lett. E. A. Freeman, I. 120. Men’s minds, however, had at last waked to the fact that Greece and Rome did not exhaust the world’s stock of wisdom and greatness.
e. fig. Of things, conditions, etc.: To be stirred up or aroused; to be put in motion or action. Also with up.
α. 1513. Douglas, Æneis, II. i. 9. The voce thus wise throw out the ciete woik.
1863. S. Wilberforce, Ess. (1874), I. 325. The troubles in his diocese which woke up under the subsequent development of ritualistic fervour. Ibid. (1864), 363. The loud clamour woke up that he was treacherously [etc.].
β. a. 1450. Myrc, Par. Pr., 1542. Leste for þe penaunce sake Wo & wraþþe by-twene hem wake.
1667. Milton, P. L., X. 94. Gentle Aires due at thir hour To fan the Earth now wak’d.
1807. Wordsw., Ode, Intim. Immortality, 159. Truths that wake, To perish never.
1820. Keats, Eve St. Agnes, xxviii. Porphyro … listen’d to her breathing, if it chanced To wake into a slumberous tenderness.
1885. ‘Mrs. Alexander,’ At Bay, viii. You are looking better, as if some life was waking up within you.
III. Causative uses.
8. trans. To rouse from sleep or unconsciousness. Also with up. Cf. AWAKE v. 5.
α. c. 1400. Love, Bonavent. Mirr., xl. (1908), 221. After this prayer oure lorde Jesu tornede aȝeyn to his disciples, and woke ham.
1523. Ld. Berners, Froiss. (1812), I. ccclxx. 608. Whan the englysshmen parceyued howe they of Nantes woke them so often, than they tooke counsayle to kepe better watche.
1763. [H. Kelly], Babler (1767), I. 126. My woman woke me in the morning with the following letter.
1778. Susan Burney, in Fr. Burney’s Early Diary (1889), II. 238. This morning. I was woke by a noise in the next room.
1822. Milman, Belshazzar, 83. Sleep that shall be sweetly broken When the God his bride hath woken.
1882. ‘Ouida,’ In Maremma, I. ii. 40. She was woke by neighbours’ voices.
1915. Capt. W. H. L. Watson, Adv. Despatch Rider, 93. I was woken up to take a message to 2nd Corps at Saacy.
β. a. 1300. Cursor M., 7990. Þou slepes dauid, now I þe wak.
c. 1369. Chaucer, Bk. Duchesse, 294. I was waked With smale foules a grete hepe That had affrayed me out of my slepe.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., I. 92. Þe disciplis comen and wakiden him.
c. 1450. Mirk’s Festial, 290. Þan wakud God Adam, and sette þe womman before hym.
1535. Coverdale, Luke viii. 24. Then wente they vnto him, and waked him vp.
1560. Maitl. Club Misc., III. 227. Sche rais beand walked be Margaret.
1599. Shaks., Much Ado, II. i. 361. She hath often dreamt of vnhappinesse, and wakt her selfe with laughing.
1715. Watts, Div. Songs, Sluggard, 2. You have wak’d me too soon, I must slumber again.
1759. Goldsm., Bee, No. 1. 15. Every morning waked him to a renewal of famine or toil.
1856. Miss Yonge, Daisy Chain, I. viii. It’s enough to startle any one to be waked up with such a noise.
1860. Tyndall, Glac., I. xvi. 107. I had not the heart to wake him.
b. transf. and fig. in obvious uses. Also, to disturb (silence), make (a place) re-echo with noise.
α. 1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair, v. Shrill cries … woke up his pleasant reverie.
1855. M. Pattison, in Oxford Ess., 308. The system that woke us to life.
1864. Kingsley, Rom. & Teut., 120. What woke him from his dream? The cry of his starving people.
1919. Times Lit. Suppl., 6 Nov., 627/2. Far from falling asleep over her pages … we feel that we have been completely woken up and set gossiping.
β. 1593. Shaks., Rich. II., I. iii. 132. To wake our peace, which in our Countries cradle Drawes the sweet infant breath of gentle sleepe.
1742. Young, Nt. Th., I. 437. The sprightly lark’s shrill Mattin wakes the Morn.
1810. Scott, Lady of L., III. xxvi. No murmur waked the solemn still.
1853. Dickens, Bleak Ho., xxxix. The [law-]suit does not sleep; we wake it up, we air it, we walk it about.
1854. Patmore, Angel in Ho., Betrothal, 146. No wind waked the wood.
1912. Macalister, Hist. of Civiliz. Palestine, iii. 31. Those great civilizations of Crete and the Aegean, that have slumbered forgotten till waked to life again in our own days.
c. To wake snakes (U.S. slang): ‘To cause trouble or disturbance’ (Thornton).
1848. Lowell, Biglow P., I. ii. 104. An’ ef it worn’t fer wakin’ snakes, I’d home agin short meter.
1872. Punch, 20 Jan., 25/2. The archbishops of the Roman obedience appear to be waking snakes.
9. To rouse to action, activity, alertness or liveliness. Const. to, into. Also with up.
α. 1851. E. Fitzgerald, Euphranor, 66. Clearly as the trumpet that woke the Greeks to battle.
β. 1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., II. xix. (1495), 46. The fende taketh a body of the ayre, that the lyf of men be haunted and wakid to besynesse by his dooynge.
1430–40. Lydg., Bochas, III. xxvi. (1554), 97. Cyrus than, furious as Lion, His aduersaries gan mortally to wake.
1535. Coverdale, Joel iii. 9. Proclame warre, wake vp the giauntes, let them drawe nye.
1605. Shaks., Macb., III. vi. 31. Thither Macduffe Is gone, to pray the Holy King, vpon his ayd To wake Northumberland, and warlike Seyward.
1750. Gray, Elegy, 48. Hands, that the rod of empire might have sway’d, Or wak’d to extasy the living lyre.
1884. H. Cholmondeley-Pennell, From Grave to Gay, 85. As when waked to sudden speed Darts from the throng the flying steed.
1901. R. Garnett, Ess., iii. 72. The highest criticism is … unoriginal in this, that it must be waked into activity by another mind.
1901. W. R. H. Trowbridge, Lett. her mother to Eliz., xxiii. 111. We are so terribly dull, and anything will serve to wake us up a bit.
b. To wake (up) to: to arouse to the consciousness or enjoyment of. Cf. 7 d.
1868–70. Morris, Earthly Par., II. III. 234. He felt as one who, waked up suddenly To life’s delight, knows not of grief or care.
10. To bring into being, raise, stir up (war, strife, woe, etc.); to arouse, excite (an activity, feeling, emotion); to evoke (a sound, echo, etc.). Also with up.
α. 1793. Minstrel, III. 136. A voice whose well known tunings thrilled through my soul, and woke every dormant passion.
1798. Southey, Lett. (1856), I. 59. Your account of poor B. woke in me the recollections, and almost the feelings, of old friendship.
1862. S. Wilberforce, Ess. (1874), I. 205. The controversy, which the publication of ‘Essays and Reviews’ woke up.
1879. Green, Read. Eng. Hist., I. viii. 34. This woke rivalry and dissension among the other nobles.
1903. W. A. Ellis, Glasenapp’s Life Wagner, III. 67. [It] has woken an ambition in me.”
β. c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 360. Ðu haues ðe sorȝes sigðhe waked.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. Wace (Rolls), 8294. [The Britons] þretten Hengist to wake hys wough.
c. 1400. 26 Pol. Poems, xvi. 29. He is a fool, þat werre wole wake, Þat may not maynten it wiþ mede.
1604. Shaks., Oth., I. iii. 30. To wake and wage a danger profitlesse.
1655. trans. Com. Hist. Francion, I. 10. This waked the Curates curiosity to descend.
1667. Milton, P. L., IX. 739. Meanwhile the hour of Noon drew on, and wak’d An eager appetite, rais’d by the smell So savorie of that Fruit.
1741–2. Gray, Agrippina, 103. And a call, Like mine, might serve belike to wake pretensions Drowsier than theirs.
1808. Scott, Marmion, VI. vi. But far more needful was his care, When sense return’d to wake despair.
1889. Jessopp, Coming of Friars, iii. 164. In every melody that wakes the echoes.
1896. ‘Q’ (Quiller-Couch), in McClure’s Mag., VI. 423/1. Never a creak did I wake out of that staircase till I was almost at the first landing.
Hence Waked ppl. a.
1581. A. Hall, Iliad, IX. 165. They keepe the watche, they stand with waked sprites.
1604. Shaks., Oth., III. iii. 363. Thou had’st bin better haue bin borne a Dog Then answer my wak’d wrath.
16[?]. ? Chapman, Revenge for Honour, III. i. (1659), 34. And on this vicious Prince like a fierce Sea-breach my just wak’d rage shall riot.
1646. Sir T. Browne, Pseud. Ep., I. x. 40. The discovery of things to come, in sleepe above the prescience of our waked senses.
