wake-up

US: (wāk′up′)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

wake-up  (wāk′up′), n. 

1. an act or instance of waking up.
2. an act or instance of being awakened:
   I asked the hotel desk for a wake-up at 6.
3. a time of awaking or being awakened:
   I'll need a 5 o'clock wake-up to make the early plane.
4. flicker².

adj. 

5. serving to wake one from sleep:
   Leave a wake-up call at the front desk.
6. serving to arouse or excite:
   a wake-up call on the problems of pollution.

• noun, nominal, adjective, adjectival use of verb, verbal phrase wake up 1835–45

wake-up, +adj. 

1. serving to arouse or excite:
   a wake-up call on the problems of pollution.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

wake-up noun

1. an alert or intelligent person
2. be a wake-up to ⇒ to be fully alert to (a person, thing, action, etc)