wake-upEnglishOxford Dictionary of Englishwake-up ▸ noun [in singular] an instance of a person waking up or being woken up: the wake-up comes in the dark before dawn [as modifier] tables full of men sipping a wake-up Armagnac. – PHRASES be a wake-up Australian and New Zealand English informal be fully alert or aware: I'm a wake-up to you.