Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Wake \Wake\, n. [Originally, an open space of water s?rrounded
   by ice, and then, the passage cut through ice for a vessel,
   probably of Scand. origin; cf. Icel. v["o]k 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 army.

         This 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 \Wake\, v. 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 \Wake\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Waked}or {Woke} (?); p. pr. &
   vb. n. {Waking}.] [AS. wacan, wacian; akin to OFries. waka,
   OS. wak?n, D. waken, G. wachen, OHG. wahh?n, Icel. vaka, Sw.
   vaken, Dan. vaage, Goth. wakan, v. i., uswakjan, v. t., Skr.
   v[=a]jay to rouse, to impel. ????. Cf. {Vigil}, {Wait}, v.
   i., {Watch}, v. i.]
   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 wake to-night, and takes his rouse,
            Keeps wassail, and the swaggering upspring reels.
                                                  --Shak.

   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
            waked.                                --Milton.

            Then wake, my soul, to high desires.  --Keble.

Wake \Wake\, n.
   1. The act of waking, or being awaked; also, the state of
      being awake. [Obs. or Poetic]

            Making such difference 'twixt wake and sleep.
                                                  --Shak.

            Singing her flatteries to my morning wake. --Dryden.

   2. The state of forbearing sleep, especially for solemn or
      festive purposes; a vigil.

            The warlike wakes continued all the night, And
            funeral games played at new returning light.
                                                  --Dryden.

            The wood nymphs, decked with daises trim, 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}, the ceremonies and pastimes connected with a
      wake. See {Wake}, n., 3
      (b), above. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Source : WordNet®

wake
     n 1: the consequences of an event (especially a catastrophic
          event); "the aftermath of war"; "in the wake of the
          accident no one knew how many had been injured" [syn: {aftermath},
           {backwash}]
     2: an island in the western Pacific between Guam and Hawaii
        [syn: {Wake Island}]
     3: the wave that spreads behind a boat as it moves forward;
        "the motorboat's wake capsized the canoe" [syn: {backwash}]
     4: a vigil held over a corpse the night before burial; "there's
        no weeping at an Irish wake" [syn: {viewing}]
     [also: {woken}, {woke}]

wake
     v 1: be awake, be alert, be there [ant: {sleep}]
     2: stop sleeping; "She woke up to the sound of the alarm clock"
        [syn: {wake up}, {awake}, {arouse}, {awaken}, {come alive},
         {waken}] [ant: {fall asleep}]
     3: arouse or excite feelings and passions; "The ostentatious
        way of living of the rich ignites the hatred of the poor";
        "The refugees' fate stirred up compassion around the
        world"; "Wake old feelings of hatred" [syn: {inflame}, {stir
        up}, {ignite}, {heat}, {fire up}]
     4: make aware of; "His words woke us to terrible facts of the
        situation"
     5: cause to become awake or conscious; "He was roused by the
        drunken men in the street"; "Please wake me at 6 AM."
        [syn: {awaken}, {waken}, {rouse}, {wake up}, {arouse}]
        [ant: {cause to sleep}]
     [also: {woken}, {woke}]