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.
They represent the city at big shopping and real estate events to stir up interest.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
Police said a 56-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of displaying threatening, abusive or insulting material which is intended to stir up hatred.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
Britain's media watchdog Ofcom said it had written to online service providers about "the increased risk of their platforms being used to stir up hatred, provoke violence and commit other offences under UK law".
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
Fox’s fear of losing games created a highly unusual situation where Murdoch was seeking to stir up trouble for a partner it pays billions, fraying a relationship that has lasted for decades.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
We made enough racket to scare the hoot owls out of the bottoms, but we sure didn’t stir up any monkeys.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
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.
