Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

4 PHRASE If one thing follows in the wake of another, it happens after the other thing is over, often as a result of it. □  The governor has enjoyed a huge surge in the polls in the wake of last week's convention.

5 PHRASE [usu with poss] Your waking hours are the times when you are awake rather than asleep. □  It was work which consumed most of his waking hours.

6 PHRASE If you leave something or someone in your wake , you leave them behind you as you go. □  Adam stumbles on, leaving a trail of devastation in his wake.

7 PHRASE If you are following in someone's wake , you are following them or their example. □  In his wake came a waiter wheeling a trolley. □  …the endless stream of female artists who released albums in her wake.

▸  wake up

1 PHRASAL VERB If something such as an activity wakes you up , it makes you more alert and ready to do things after you have been lazy or inactive. □ [V P n] A cool shower wakes up the body and boosts circulation. [Also V n P ]

2 → see also wake 1

▸  wake up to PHRASAL VERB If you wake up to something, you become aware of it. □ [V P P n] People should wake up to the fact that people with disabilities have got a vote as well.

wake|ful /we I kfʊl/ ADJ Someone who is wakeful finds it difficult to get to sleep and wakes up very often when they should be sleeping. ●  wake|ful|ness N‑UNCOUNT □  It is never a good idea to take sleeping tablets regularly for this kind of wakefulness.

wak|en /we I kən/ (wakens , wakening , wakened ) VERB When you waken , or when someone or something wakens you, you wake from sleep. [LITERARY ] □ [V n] The noise of a door slamming wakened her. □ [V ] Women are much more likely than men to waken because of noise. ● PHRASAL VERB Waken up means the same as waken . □ [V n P ] 'Drink this coffee–it will waken you up.' □ [V P ] If you do waken up during the night, start the exercises again.

wa ke-up call (wake-up calls )

1 N‑COUNT [usu sing] A wake-up call is a phone call that you can book through an operator or at a hotel to make sure that you wake up at a particular time.

2 N‑COUNT [usu sing] If you say that something is a wake-up call to a person or group of people, you mean that it will make them notice something and start to take action. □ [+ to ] The Ambassador said he hoped the statement would serve as a wake-up call to the government.

walk ◆◆◆ /wɔː k/ (walks , walking , walked )

1 VERB When you walk , you move forward by putting one foot in front of the other in a regular way. □ [V ] Rosanna and Forbes walked in silence for some while. □ [V prep/adv] She turned and walked away. □ [V n] They would stop the car and walk a few steps. □ [V n + to ] When I was your age I walked five miles to school.

2 N‑COUNT A walk is a journey that you make by walking, usually for pleasure. □  I went for a walk. □  He often took long walks in the hills.

3 N‑SING A walk of a particular distance is the distance which a person has to walk to get somewhere. □ [+ to ] It was only a three-mile walk to Kabul from there. □ [+ from ] The church is a short walk from Piazza Dante.

4 N‑COUNT A walk is a route suitable for walking along for pleasure. □  There is a 2 mile coastal walk from Craster to Newton.

5 N‑SING A walk is the action of walking rather than running. □  She slowed to a steady walk.

6 N‑SING Someone's walk is the way that they walk. □  George, despite his great height and gangling walk, was a keen dancer.