rouse

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• intransitive verb To wake (someone) up.
• intransitive verb To cause (someone) to be active, attentive, or excited; stir up. synonym: provoke.
• intransitive verb To give rise to; bring about.
• intransitive verb To awaken.
• intransitive verb To become active, attentive, or excited.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun An arousing; a sudden start or movement, as from torpor or inaction; also, a signal for arousing or starting up; the reveille.
• Same as roose.
• To cause to start up by noise or clamor, especially from sleep; startle into movement or activity; in hunting, to drive or frighten from a lurking-place or covert.
• To raise or waken from torpor or inaction by any means; provoke to activity; wake or stir up: said of animate beings.
• To evoke a commotion in or about: said of inanimate things.
• Hence To move or stir up vigorously by direct force; use energetic means for raising, stirring, or moving along. In this sense still sometimes written rowse.
• To raise up; erect; rear; fix in an elevated position.
• To put and turn over or work about in salt, as fish in the operation of rousing; roil.
• Nautical, to haul heavily.
• Synonyms and To animate, kindle, stimulate, provoke, stir up.
• To start or rise up, as from sleep, repose, or inaction; throw off torpor or quietude; make a stir or movement.
• To rise; become erect; stand up.
• Nautical, to haul with great force, as upon a cable or the like.
• To blow air through (the wort of beer) in order to aid in the development of the yeast.
• As if suddenly aroused; rousingly; vehemently.
• noun Wine or other liquor considered as an inducement to mirth or drunkenness; a full glass; a bumper.
• noun Hence Noise; intemperate mirth.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• transitive verb To cause to start from a covert or lurking place.
• transitive verb To wake from sleep or repose.
• transitive verb To excite to lively thought or action from a state of idleness, languor, stupidity, or indifference.
• transitive verb To put in motion; to stir up; to agitate.
• transitive verb obsolete To raise; to make erect.
• verb (Naut.) To pull or haul strongly and all together, as upon a rope, without the assistance of mechanical appliances.
• noun obsolete A bumper in honor of a toast or health.
• noun A carousal; a festival; a drinking frolic.
• intransitive verb obsolete To get or start up; to rise.
• intransitive verb To awake from sleep or repose.
• intransitive verb To be exited to thought or action from a state of indolence or inattention.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun an arousal
• noun an official ceremony over drinks
• noun military The sounding of a bugle in the morning after reveille, to signal that soldiers are to rise from bed, often the rouse.
• verb to wake or be awoken from sleep, or from apathy
• verb to provoke (someone) to anger or action
• verb nautical To pull by main strength; to haul
• verb obsolete To be excited to thought or action from a state of indolence or inattention.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• verb become active
• verb cause to be agitated, excited, or roused
• verb cause to become awake or conscious
• verb force or drive out