资料来源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Wake \Wake\, n.
1. The act of waking, or being awaked; also, the state of
being awake. [Obs. or Poetic]
Making such difference 'twixt wake and sleep.
--Shak.
Singing her flatteries to my morning wake. --Dryden.
2. The state of forbearing sleep, especially for solemn or
festive purposes; a vigil.
The warlike wakes continued all the night, And
funeral games played at new returning light.
--Dryden.
The wood nymphs, decked with daises trim, Their
merry wakes and pastimes keep. --Milton.
3. Specifically:
(a) (Ch. of Eng.) 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.
Great solemnities were made in all churches, and
great fairs and wakes throughout all England.
--Ld. Berners.
And every village smokes at wakes with lusty
cheer. --Drayton.
(b) The sitting up of persons with a dead body, often
attended with a degree of festivity, chiefly among the
Irish. ``Blithe as shepherd at a wake.'' --Cowper.
{Wake play}, the ceremonies and pastimes connected with a
wake. See {Wake}, n., 3
(b), above. [Obs.] --Chaucer.