stir

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To mix a liquid or soft food by moving a spoon or other object around in it.

   She stirred the soup with a wooden spoon.

2. 2
   verb

   To cause strong feelings in someone; to move emotionally.

   The film stirred deep memories of her childhood.

3. 3
   verb

   To encourage people to take action, often trouble.

   His angry speech stirred the crowd into protest.

Multiword verbs with stir

• stir up Phrasal verb B1

  to cause strong feelings or reactions to arise

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Stir in the slang sense ‘jail’, recorded from the mid-19th century, is probably a shortening of Romani sturbin ‘prison’.

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)twerH- Proto-Indo-European *(s)twr̥H-yé-ti? Proto-Germanic *sturjaną Proto-West Germanic *sturjan Old English styrian Middle English stiren English stir From Middle English stiren, sturien, steren, from Old English styrian (“to be in motion, move, agitate, stir, disturb, trouble”), from Proto-Germanic *sturiz (“turmoil, noise, confusion”), related to Proto-West Germanic *staurijan (“to destroy, disturb”). Cognate with Old Norse styrr (“turmoil, noise, confusion”), German stören (“to disturb”), Dutch storen (“to disturb”).

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary