concoct

[kon-kokt, kuhn-]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR concoct ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to prepare or make by combining ingredients, especially in cookery: to concoct a meal from leftovers.

to devise; make up; contrive: to concoct an excuse.

Nearby words

Origin of concoct

1525–35; < Latin concoctus (past participle of concoquere to cook together), equivalent to con- con- + coc-, variant stem of coquere to boil, cook¹ (akin to Greek péptein; see pepsin, peptic) + -tus past participle ending

Related formscon·coct·er, con·coc·tor, nouncon·coc·tive, adjectivewell-con·coct·ed, adjective

Synonyms for concoct

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR concoct ON THESAURUS.COM

2. invent, fabricate, hatch.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for concoct

By the late 1600s, chemists and herbalists had begun to concoct their own scientific mixtures for curing the hangover.
History's Craziest Hangover Cures|Justin Jones|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
That means shoppers will no longer have to rely on the big-name designers to concoct pieces with the latest trends.
What, and Who, You'll Be Wearing in 2015|Justin Jones|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
You can create anything, add flavorings—you can concoct things.
This Book Will Change the Way You Eat|Lucas Wittmann|December 19, 2013|DAILY BEAST
His lifelong obsession with elegance and order, he said, led him to concoct sexy results that journals found attractive.
How Social Scientists, and the Rest of Us, Got Seduced By a Good Story|Megan McArdle|April 30, 2013|DAILY BEAST

So why did anybody ever bother to concoct the oil story in the first place?
The Real Story of Hanukkah|David Frum|December 15, 2012|DAILY BEAST
I knew mighty well that Carter would not concoct anything as crude as that, and wondered what deviltry he had devised.
Kathleen|Christopher Morley
Afterward some of us fellows did some experimenting and managed to concoct a crude one in the laboratory.
Ted and the Telephone|Sara Ware Bassett
"Merton and I have managed to concoct that letter," said the squire.
Mr. Scarborough's Family|Anthony Trollope
Next, to form festoons and remain motionless twenty-four hours to concoct the wax, is not the way they generally manage affairs.
Mysteries of Bee-keeping Explained|M. Quinby
A real mans mysterynothing silly, like the mysteries Amy tried to concoct.
Joan of the Journal|Helen Diehl Olds

British Dictionary definitions for concoct

concoct

verb (tr)

to make by combining different ingredients

to invent; make up; contrive

Derived Formsconcocter or concoctor, nounconcoctive, adjective

Word Origin for concoct

C16: from Latin concoctus cooked together, from concoquere, from coquere to cook

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for concoct

1530s, "to digest," from Latin concoctus, past participle of concoquere "to digest; to boil together, prepare; to consider well," from com- "together" (see com-) + coquere "to cook" (see cook (n.)). Meaning "to prepare an edible thing" is from 1670s. First expanded metaphorically beyond cooking 1792. Related: Concocted; concocting.