Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Wake
Wake
,Noun.
[Originally, an open space of water s[GREEK]rrounded by ice, and then, the passage cut through ice for a vessel, probably of Scand. origin; cf. Icel.
vök
a hole, opening in ice, Sw. vak
, Dan. vaage
, perhaps akin to E. humid
.] The track left by a vessel in the water; by extension, any track;
as, the
. wake
of an armyThis effect followed immediately in the
wake
of his earliest exertions. De Quincey.
Several humbler persons . . . formed quite a procession in the dusty
wake
of his chariot wheels. Thackeray.
Wake
,Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Waked
or Woke
([GREEK]); p. pr. & vb. n.
Waking
.] 1.
To be or to continue awake; to watch; not to sleep.
The father
waketh
for the daughter. Ecclus. xlii. 9.
Though wisdom
wake
, suspicion sleeps. Milton.
I can not think any time,
waking
or sleeping, without being sensible of it. Locke.
2.
To sit up late festive purposes; to hold a night revel.
The king doth
Keeps wassail, and the swaggering upspring reels.
wake
to-night, and takes his rouse,Keeps wassail, and the swaggering upspring reels.
Shakespeare
3.
To be excited or roused from sleep; to awake; to be awakened; to cease to sleep; – often with up.
He infallibly
woke
up at the sound of the concluding doxology. G. Eliot.
4.
To be exited or roused up; to be stirred up from a dormant, torpid, or inactive state; to be active.
Gentle airs due at their hour
To fan the earth now
To fan the earth now
waked
. Milton.
Then
wake
, my soul, to high desires. Keble.
Wake
,Verb.
T.
1.
To rouse from sleep; to awake.
The angel . . . came again and
waked
me. Zech. iv. 1.
2.
To put in motion or action; to arouse; to excite.
“I shall waken all this company.” Chaucer.
Lest fierce remembrance
wake
my sudden rage. Milton.
Even Richard’s crusade
woke
little interest in his island realm. J. R. Green.
3.
To bring to life again, as if from the sleep of death; to reanimate; to revive.
To second life
Waked
in the renovation of the just. Milton.
4.
To watch, or sit up with, at night, as a dead body.
Wake
,Noun.
1.
The act of waking, or being awaked; also, the state of being awake.
[Obs. or Poetic]
Making such difference 'twixt
wake
and sleep. Shakespeare
Singing her flatteries to my morning
wake
. Dryden.
2.
The state of forbearing sleep, especially for solemn or festive purposes; a vigil.
The warlike
And funeral games played at new returning light.
wakes
continued all the night,And funeral games played at new returning light.
Dryden.
The wood nymphs, decked with daises trim,
Their merry
Their merry
wakes
and pastimes keep. Milton.
3.
Specifically: (a)
(Ch. of Eng.)
An annual parish festival formerly held in commemoration of the dedication of a church. Originally, prayers were said on the evening preceding, and hymns were sung during the night, in the church; subsequently, these vigils were discontinued, and the day itself, often with succeeding days, was occupied in rural pastimes and exercises, attended by eating and drinking, often to excess.
Great solemnities were made in all churches, and great fairs and
wakes
throughout all England. Ld. Berners.
And every village smokes at
wakes
with lusty cheer. Drayton.
(b)
The sitting up of persons with a dead body, often attended with a degree of festivity, chiefly among the Irish.
“Blithe as shepherd at a wake.” Cowper.
Wake play
,
[Obs.]
Chaucer.
Webster 1828 Edition
Wake
WAKE
,Verb.
I.
1.
To be awake; to continue awake; to watch; not to sleep. Psalm 127.The father waketh for the daughter.
Though wisdom wakes, suspicion sleeps.
I cannot think any time, waking or sleeping, without being sensible of it.
2.
To be excited or roused from sleep; to awake; to be awakened. He wakes at the slightest noise.3.
To cease to sleep; to awake.4.
To be quick; to be alive or active.5.
To be excited from a torpid state; to be put in motion. The dormant powers of nature wake from their frosty slumbers.Gentle airs to fan the earth now wakd.
WAKE
, v.t.1.
To rouse from sleep.The angel that talked with me, came again and waked me. Zechariah 4.
2.
To arouse; to excite; to put in motion or action.Prepare war, wake up the mighty men. Joel 3.
[The use of up is common, but not necessary.]
To wake the soul by tender strokes of art.
3.
To bring to life again, as if from the sleep of death.To second life wakd in the renovation of the just.
WAKE
,Noun.
1.
The feast of the dedication of the church, formerly kept by watching all night.2.
Vigils; state of forbearing sleep.--Their merry wakes and pastimes keep.
3.
Act of waking. [Old song.] Wake of a ship, the track it leaves in the water, formed by the meeting of the water, which rushes from each side to fill the space which the ship makes in passing through it.
To be in the wake of a ship, is to be in her track, or in a line with her keel.