| Front | stir |
|---|---|
| Back | stir verb, noun BrE /stɜː(r)/ NAmE /stɜːr/ verb verb forms word origin thesaurus collocations synonyms example bank (-rr-) mix 1 [transitive] to move a liquid or substance around, using a spoon or sth similar, in order to mix it thoroughly ~ sth She stirred her tea. Stir the paint before you use it. ~ sth into sth The vegetables are stirred into the rice while it is hot. ~ sth in Stir in the milk until the sauce thickens. move 2 [intransitive, transitive] to move, or to make sth move, slightly She heard the baby stir in the next room. ~ sth/sb A slight breeze was stirring the branches. A noise stirred me from sleep. 3 [intransitive, transitive] to move, or to make sb move, in order to do sth You haven't stirred from that chair all evening! ~ yourself/sb Come on, stir yourself. You're late! Their complaints have finally stirred him into action. feelings 4 [transitive] ~ sb (to sth) to make sb excited or make them feel sth strongly a book that really stirs the imagination She was stirred by his sad story. 5 [intransitive] (of a feeling or a mood) to begin to be felt A feeling of guilt began to stir in her. New optimism was stirring throughout the country. cause trouble 6 [transitive, intransitive] ~ (it) (BrE, informal, disapproving) to try to cause trouble You're just stirring it! see also stirrer stir the ˈblood to make sb excited stir your ˈstumps (old-fashioned, BrE, informal) to begin to move; to hurry ˌstir sbˈup to encourage sb to do sth; to make sb feel they must do sth ˌstir sthˈup 1 to make people feel strong emotions to stir up hatred 2 to try to cause arguments or problems to stir up a debate Whenever he's around, he always manages to stir up trouble. We've got enough problems without you trying to stir things up. 3 to make sth move around in water or air The wind stirred up a lot of dust. noun word origin example bank 1 [singular] excitement, anger or shock that is felt by a number of people commotion Her resignation caused quite a stir. 2 [countable, usually singular] the action of stirring sth Could you give the rice a stir? |
Learn with these flashcards. Click next, previous, or up to navigate to more flashcards for this subject.
Next card: Blob small bre /blɒb/name /blɑːb/noun amount drop sth liquid area
Previous card: Brook noun, verb bre /brʊk/name /brʊk/ noun small river verb sth/not
Up to card list: A Song of Ice and Fire