stir

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   To disturb the relative position of the particles (of a liquid or similar) by passing an…

   To disturb the relative position of the particles (of a liquid or similar) by passing an object through it.

   • She stirred the pudding with a spoon.
   • He stirred his coffee so the sugar wouldn't stay at the bottom.
   • My minde is troubled, like a Fountaine stir'd, / And I my selfe see not the bottome of it.
2. 2

   To disturb the content of (a container) by passing an object through it.

   • Would you please stir this pot so that the chocolate doesn't burn?
3. 3

   To emotionally affect

   To emotionally affect; to touch, to move.

   • And what delights can equal those ⁠That stir the spirit’s inner deeps, ⁠When one that loves but knows not, reaps A truth from one that loves and knows?
4. ›+ 14 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      To incite to action.

      • An Ate, stirring him to bloud and strife […]
      • The Soldiers love her Brother’s Memory; / And for her sake some Mutiny will stir.
   2. 5

      To bring into debate

      To bring into debate; to agitate.

      • Preserue the rights of thy place, but stirre not questions of Iurisdiction : and rather assume thy right in silence, and de facto, then voice it with claimes, and challenges.
   3. 6

      To disturb, to disrupt.

      • They ſay he is the King of Perſea. But if he dare attempt to ſtir your ſiege, Twere requiſite he ſhould be ten times more, For all fleſh quakes at your magnificence.
   4. 7

      To change the place of in any manner

      To change the place of in any manner; to move.

      • […] notwithstanding the swelling of my Foot, so that I had never yet in five days been able to stir it, but as it was lifted.
      • 'But the bolts can't be stirred, dear,' protested Myra. 'I've tried myself until my poor thumbs are nearly dislocated. […]'
   5. 8

      To begin to move, especially gently, from a still or unmoving position.

      • And especially if they happen to have any superior character or possessions in this world, they fancy they have a right to talk freely upon everything that stirs or appears[…]
      • I had not strength to stir or strive, / But felt that I was still alive— […]
   6. 9

      Of a feeling or emotion

      Of a feeling or emotion: to rise, begin to be felt.

      • That night he was almost too happy to sleep, and so much love stirred in his little sawdust heart that it almost burst.
      • Though as I said it, glibly, reassuringly, I knew that I lied, and a little snake of guilt stirred and began to uncoil slightly, guilt and its constant companion deceit.
   7. 10

      To be in motion

      To be in motion; to be active or bustling; to exert or busy oneself.

      • All are not fit with them to stir and toil.
      • Meanwhile, the friends of the unfortunate exile, far from resenting his unjust suspicions, were stirring anxiously in his behalf.
   8. 11

      To rise from sleep or unconsciousness.

   9. 12

      The act or result of stirring (moving around the particles of a liquid etc.)

      • Can you give the soup a little stir?
   10. 13

       agitation

       agitation; tumult; bustle; noise or various movements.

       • 1668, John Denham, Of Prudence (poem). Why all these words, this clamour, and this stir?
       • Consider, after so much stir about genus and species, how few words we have yet settled definitions of.
   11. 14

       Public disturbance or commotion

       Public disturbance or commotion; tumultuous disorder; seditious uproar.

       • Being advertised of some stirs raised by his unnatural sons in England.
   12. 15

       Agitation of thoughts

       Agitation of thoughts; conflicting passions.

   13. 16

       Jail

       Jail; prison.

       • He's going to be spending maybe ten years in stir.
       • The Bat—they called him the Bat.[…]. He'd never been in stir, the bulls had never mugged him, he didn't run with a mob, he played a lone hand, and fenced his stuff so that even the fence couldn't swear he knew his face.
       • Sing Sing was a tough joint in those days, one of the five worst stirs in the United States.
   14. 17

       Acronym of short-term interest rate, often referring to a short-term interest rate future…

       Acronym of short-term interest rate, often referring to a short-term interest rate future or option.

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