stir

To stir is to move. Usually, the movement is in a circular pattern, but this word can also be used when a person wakes up, when a person moves, or when someone causes trouble.

• Donna stirred her coffee. She put cream and sugar into the coffee and stirred.
• It’s necessary to stir the rice after it comes to a boil.
• Keep stirring the concrete. If you stop, it will get hard.
• If you don’t keep stirring the vegetables and the meat, they’ll burn.
• Have you ever eaten stir-fried food?

He’s stirring something.

• I tried to wake my son, but he wouldn’t stir.
• The alarm stirred Gloria out of a deep sleep.
• Bears begin to stir from their hibernation sometime in March.
• The old man down the street is known for stirring up trouble. (stir up trouble = cause trouble)
• You’re going to stir up a hornet’s nest if you raise this issue in the meeting. (stir up a hornet’s nest = do or say something that invites controversy.)
• People go stir crazy during the winter if they don’t get outside and move around. (stir crazy = a condition caused by constant confinement. People kept in small spaces such as airplanes, prison cells, and rooms go "stir crazy.")

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May 8, 2014