stir up
Britishverb
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Mix together the ingredients or parts, as in He stirred up some pancake batter , or Will you stir up the fire? [Mid-1300s]
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Rouse to action, incite, provoke, as in He's always stirring up trouble among the campers , or If the strikers aren't careful they'll stir up a riot . [First half of 1500s] Also see stir up a hornets' nest .
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Still, a lot can happen before the June 2 primary to stir up the race.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026
We’ll see if Netflix clout is mobilized to stir up trouble and sink Paramount’s deal.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026
When currents spread out, they heat the atmosphere, stir up winds, and create turbulence that can affect satellites traveling through that region.
From Science Daily • Feb. 17, 2026
Still, with rate cuts expected to continue, the Citi team expects the Fed to run the economy hot next year, which could stir up inflationary pressures later in 2026.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 16, 2025
Segregationists singled out Reverend Martin Luther King,Jr., branding him a “troublemaker,” an “outsider” who had come from Adanta to stir up local blacks.
From "Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice" by Phillip Hoose
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
