a wake-up call



a wake-up call

  (American & Australian)
an event that warns someone that they need to deal with an urgent or dangerous problem (often + to do sth) The 1971 earthquake was a wake-up call to strengthen the city's bridges. (often + to ) The World Trade Center bombing has served as a wake-up call to the FBI on terrorism.
See also: call

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
Severinus-Ancient Roman
Reinhard-German, Ancient Germanic
RanṙahnJapanese
Muir-Scottish
Drorit-Hebrew
Mcwilliams[mək'wiljəmz]