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Wake vs Wave - What's the difference?

wake | wave |

In intransitive terms the difference between wake and wave

is that wake is (often followed by up) To stop sleeping while wave is to have an undulating or wavy form.

In transitive terms the difference between wake and wave

is that wake is (often followed by up) To make somebody stop sleeping; to rouse from sleep while wave is to signal (someone or something) with a waving movement.

In figuratively terms the difference between wake and wave

is that wake is the area behind something, typically a rapidly moving object while wave is a sudden unusually large amount of something that is temporarily experienced.

As a proper noun Wake

is {{surname|lang=en}.

wake

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) waken'', (etyl) ''wacan * Middle English wakien'', Old English ''wacian

Verb

  • (often followed by up ) To stop sleeping.
  • I woke up at four o'clock this morning.
  • * 1898 , , (Moonfleet) Chapter 4
  • How long I slept I cannot tell, for I had nothing to guide me to the time, but woke at length, and found myself still in darkness.
  • (often followed by up ) To make somebody stop sleeping; to rouse from sleep.
  • * Bible, Zech. iv. 1
  • The angel came again and waked me.
    The neighbour's car alarm woke me from a strange dream.
  • (figurative) To put in motion or action; to arouse; to excite.
  • * Milton
  • lest fierce remembrance wake my sudden rage
  • * J. R. Green
  • Even Richard's crusade woke little interest in his island realm.
  • (figurative) To be excited or roused up; to be stirred up from a dormant, torpid, or inactive state; to be active.
  • * Milton
  • Gentle airs due at their hour / To fan the earth now waked .
  • * Keble
  • Then wake , my soul, to high desires.
  • To lay out a body prior to burial in order to allow family and friends to pay their last respects.
  • To watch, or sit up with, at night, as a dead body.
  • To be or remain awake; not to sleep.
  • * Bible, Eccles. xlii. 9
  • The father waketh for the daughter.
  • * Milton
  • Though wisdom wake , suspicion sleeps.
  • * John Locke
  • I cannot think any time, waking or sleeping, without being sensible of it.
  • (obsolete) To sit up late for festive purposes; to hold a night revel.
  • * Shakespeare
  • The king doth wake to-night, and takes his rouse, / Keeps wassail, and the swaggering upspring reels.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete, poetic) The act of waking, or state of being awake.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Making such difference 'twixt wake and sleep.
  • * Dryden
  • Singing her flatteries to my morning wake .
  • The state of forbearing sleep, especially for solemn or festive purposes; a vigil.
  • * Dryden
  • The warlike wakes continued all the night, / And funeral games played at new returning light.
  • * Milton
  • The wood nymphs, decked with daises trim, / Their merry wakes and pastimes keep.

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) wacu.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A period after a person's death before the body is buried, in some cultures accompanied by a party.
  • (historical, Church of England) 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.
  • * Ld. Berners
  • Great solemnities were made in all churches, and great fairs and wakes throughout all England.
  • * Drayton
  • And every village smokes at wakes with lusty cheer.
    Synonyms
    * death watch
    See also
    * arval, arvel

    Etymology 3

    Probably (etyl), from (etyl) , Icelandic ).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The path left behind a ship on the surface of the water.
  • The turbulent air left behind a flying aircraft.
  • (figuratively) The area behind something, typically a rapidly moving object.
  • * De Quincey
  • This effect followed immediately in the wake of his earliest exertions.
  • * Thackeray
  • Several humbler persons formed quite a procession in the dusty wake of his chariot wheels.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011
  • , date=September 28 , author=Tom Rostance , title=Arsenal 2 - 1 Olympiakos , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=Alex Song launched a long ball forward from the back and the winger took it down nicely on his chest. He cut across the penalty area from the right and after one of the three defenders in his wake failed to make a meaningful clearance, the Oxlade-Chamberlain was able to dispatch a low left-footed finish into the far corner.}}
    See also
    * in the wake of * wakes

    Etymology 4

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A number of vultures assembled together.
  • See also
    * flock

    wave

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) waven, from (etyl) .

    Verb

    (wav)
  • (lb) To move back and forth repeatedly.
  • :
  • *{{quote-news, year=2011, date=October 1, author=Tom Fordyce, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= Rugby World Cup 2011: England 16-12 Scotland , passage=But the World Cup winning veteran's left boot was awry again, the attempt sliced horribly wide of the left upright, and the saltires were waving aloft again a moment later when a long pass in the England midfield was picked off to almost offer up a breakaway try.}}
  • (lb) To wave one’s hand in greeting or departure.
  • :
  • (lb) To have an undulating or wavy form.
  • (lb) To raise into inequalities of surface; to give an undulating form or surface to.
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:horns whelked and waved like the enridged sea
  • (lb) To produce waves to the hair.
  • *
  • *:There was also hairdressing: hairdressing, too, really was hairdressing in those times — no running a comb through it and that was that. It was curled, frizzed, waved', put in curlers overnight, ' waved with hot tongs;.
  • To swing and miss at a pitch.
  • :
  • (lb) To cause to move back and forth repeatedly.
  • :
  • (lb) To signal (someone or something) with a waving movement.
  • To fluctuate; to waver; to be in an unsettled state.
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:He waved indifferently 'twixt doing them neither good nor harm.
  • To move like a wave, or by floating; to waft.
  • :(Sir Thomas Browne)
  • To call attention to, or give a direction or command to, by a waving motion, as of the hand; to signify by waving; to beckon; to signal; to indicate.
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:Look, with what courteous action / It waves you to a more removed ground.
  • * (1809-1892)
  • *:She spoke, and bowing waved / Dismissal.
  • Derived terms
    * wave off * waver * wave the white flag

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) *.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A moving disturbance in the level of a body of water; an undulation.
  • The wave traveled from the center of the lake before breaking on the shore.
  • (physics) A moving disturbance in the energy level of a field.
  • Gravity waves , while predicted by theory for decades, have been notoriously difficult to detect.
  • A shape that alternatingly curves in opposite directions.
  • Her hair had a nice wave to it.
    sine wave
  • (figuratively) A sudden unusually large amount of something that is temporarily experienced.
  • A wave of shoppers stampeded through the door when the store opened for its Christmas discount special.
    A wave of retirees began moving to the coastal area.
    A wave of emotion overcame her when she thought about her son who was killed in battle.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=January 11 , author=Jonathan Stevenson , title=West Ham 2 - 1 Birmingham , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=Foster had been left unsighted by Scott Dann's positioning at his post, but the goalkeeper was about to prove his worth to Birmingham by keeping them in the game with a series of stunning saves as West Ham produced waves' after ' wave of attack in their bid to find a crucial second goal.}}
  • A sideway movement of the hand(s).
  • With a wave of the hand.
  • A group activity in a crowd imitating a wave going through water, where people in successive parts of the crowd stand and stretch upward, then sit. Usually referred to as "the wave"
  • Derived terms
    * Elliott wave * make waves * Mexican wave * waveband * wave field synthesis * wave function * waveguide * wavelength * wavelet * wave mechanics * wave number * wave packet * wave-particle duality * wave ski * wave train * wave vector * wavy
    Synonyms
    * (an undulation) (l)

    Etymology 3

    See waive.