1. stop sleeping; wake from sleep: "she awoke to find the streets covered in snow"Similarwake (up)awakenstircome tocome aroundbestir oneselfshow signs of lifereturn to the land of the livingOppositefall asleep
▪ cause (someone) to wake from sleep: "my screams awoke my parents"Similarwake (up)awakenwakenrousearouseinformal:give someone a shoutknock up
▪ regain consciousness: "I awoke six hours after the operation"
▪ become aware of; come to a realization of: "the authorities finally awoke to the extent of the problem"Similarrealizebecome aware ofbecome conscious ofbecome cognizant ofbecome mindful ofinformal:get wise torare:cognize
▪ make or become active again:"there were echoes and scents that awoke some memory in me"
▪ aware of:"too few are awake to the dangers"Similaraware ofconscious ofcognizant ofmindful ofsensible ofalive toalert tosensitive toarchaic:ware ofOppositeunawareignorantoblivious
Word OriginOld Englishāwæcnan, āwacian, both used in the sense ‘come out of sleep’ (see a-2, wake1).