(n.) 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.
(n.) The act of waking, or being awaked; also, the state of being awake.
(n.) The sitting up of persons with a dead body, often attended with a degree of festivity, chiefly among the Irish.
(n.) The state of forbearing sleep, especially for solemn or festive purposes; a vigil.
(n.) The track left by a vessel in the water; by extension, any track; as, the wake of an army.
(v. i.) To be excited or roused from sleep; to awake; to be awakened; to cease to sleep; -- often with up.
(v. i.) To be exited or roused up; to be stirred up from a dormant, torpid, or inactive state; to be active.
(v. i.) To be or to continue awake; to watch; not to sleep.
(v. i.) To sit up late festive purposes; to hold a night revel.
(v. t.) To bring to life again, as if from the sleep of death; to reanimate; to revive.
(v. t.) To put in motion or action; to arouse; to excite.
(v. t.) To rouse from sleep; to awake.
(v. t.) To watch, or sit up with, at night, as a dead body.