dream up

verb

1. (tr, adverb) to invent by ingenuity and imagination

   to dream up an excuse for leaving

Idioms and Phrases

Invent, concoct, as in Count on her to dream up some explanation for her absence. This expression replaced the somewhat earlier dream out. [c. 1940]

Related Words

• contrive 
• devise 
• hatch 
• invent