wake-up call

1. 1.

   a warning to take action concerning something that was overlooked or neglected

   “the bombing was a wake-up call to strengthen domestic security”

   Broaderwarning
2. 2.

   a telephone call that you request be made a specific time in order to wake you up at that time (especially in hotels)

   “she left a wake-up call for 7 a.m.”

   Broadercall

Questions about wake-up call

What does wake-up call mean?

wake-up call means "a warning to take action concerning something that was overlooked or neglected". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

Is wake-up call a common word?

wake-up call is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.