[f. as prec. + -ING1.]
1. A rising from sleep, or (in modern use, more commonly) from sloth, inaction or indifference.
1592. Shaks., Rom. & Jul. (Qo. 2), V. iii. 258. Ere the time Of her awakening.
1646. Bury Wills (1850), 187. To continue vntill the generall awakeninge day.
1873. Symonds, Grk. Poets, vii. 186. The awakening of the whole English nation to activity.
1878. Masque of Poets, 17. Dreams divine end in awakenings dull.
c. 1882. Sarah G. Stock, Life Abund., 8.
| Take the wonders of the spring, | |
| Nature’s great awakening! |
2. An arousing from sleep or its semblance.
1684. R. Alleyne (title), A Rebuke to Backsliders … published for the Awakening of a Sleepy Age.
1872. ‘M. Twain,’ Innoc. Abr., 209. These violent awakenings must have been annoying to Oliver.
