WAKE-UP CALL Definition & Meaning

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wake-up call

noun

a telephone call that wakes a person from sleep
an event that alerts people to a danger or difficulty

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Idioms and Phrases

A portentous event, report, or situation that brings an issue to immediate attention. For example, The rise in unemployment has given a wake-up call to state governments, or The success of the online subscription is a wake-up call to publishers. This metaphoric term originated in the second half of the 1900s for a telephone call arranged in advance to awaken a sleeper, especially in a hotel. Its figurative use dates from about 1990.

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Example Sentences

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If you care about our Constitution, about due process, about civil rights, watching a U.S. senator forced onto his knees for asking questions should be a terrifying wake-up call.

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"So it's made me realise about plastic packaging and whether I really need this item and it's just really given me a wake-up call and changed my perspective."

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The tournament could also be a wake-up call for MLS, which has two other teams in the competition in Inter Miami and the Seattle Sounders.

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Could “Schoenberg in Hollywood” be a wake-up call?

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But for India, experts say, the whole episode is a wake-up call.

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wake-up Waksman

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wake-up call

noun

Idioms and Phrases

Example Sentences