cook up

British  

verb

1. informal to concoct or invent (a story, alibi, etc)

2. to prepare (a meal), esp quickly

3. slang to prepare (a drug) for use by heating, as by dissolving heroin in a spoon

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noun

1. (in the Caribbean) a dish consisting of mixed meats, rice, shrimps, and sometimes vegetables

cook up Idioms  

1. Fabricate, concoct, as in She's always cooking up some excuse. [Colloquial; mid-1700s]

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Example Sentences

With 275 acres of land around a freshly remodeled Hard Rock Stadium, he had spent years trying to cook up ways to develop more events on his site.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026

To do so, I stay away from bistros in fancy neighborhoods, which charge too much and often cook up mediocre food.

From Barron's • Mar. 8, 2026

Madhusudhan says that does nothing to disprove his hypothesis; comets are known to be little laboratories that can cook up all sorts of unlikely things.

From Salon • May 31, 2025

No matter how you dress them, whatever complicated motivations and methodologies you cook up, they’re all cut from the same pattern.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 13, 2024

And then I thought about what kind of ridiculous plan Carlos might cook up.

From "All American Boys" by Jason Reynolds