stir

Definitions

1. 1.To disturb the relative position of the particles of, as of a liquid, by passing something through it; to agitate; as, to stir a pudding with a spoon. My mind is troubled, like a fountain stirred. Shak.
2. 2.To bring into debate; to agitate; to moot. Stir not questions of jurisdiction. Bacon.
3. 3.To incite to action; to arouse; to instigate; to prompt; to excite. "To stir men to devotion." Chaucer. An Ate, stirring him to blood and strife. Shak. And for her sake some mutiny will stir. Dryden. Note: In all senses except the first, stir is often followed by up with an intensive effect; as, to stir up fire; to stir up sedition.
4. 4.To move; to change one's position. I had not power to stir or strive, But felt that I was still alive. Byron.
5. 5.To be in motion; to be active or bustling; to exert or busy one's self. All are not fit with them to stir and toil. Byron. The friends of the unfortunate exile, far from resenting his unjust suspicions, were stirring anxiously in his behalf. Merivale.
6. 6.To become the object of notice; to be on foot. They fancy they have a right to talk freely upon everything that stirs or appears. I. Watts.
7. 7.To rise, or be up, in the morning. [Colloq.] Shak.
8. 8.The act or result of stirring; agitation; tumult; bustle; noise or various movements. Why all these words, this clamor, and this stir Denham. Consider, after so much stir about genus and species, how few words we have yet settled definitions of. Locke.
9. 9.Public disturbance or commotion; tumultuous disorder; seditious uproar. Being advertised of some stirs raised by his unnatural sons in England. Sir J. Davies.
10. 10.Agitation of thoughts; conflicting passions.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Related questions

• What does "stir" mean?
• What is another word for "stir"?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is stir.

• What is to bring into debate; to agitate; to moot. Stir not questions of jurisdiction. Bacon called?
• What is to move; to change one's position. I had not power to stir or strive, But felt that I was still alive. Byron called?
• What is to become the object of notice; to be on foot. They fancy they have a right to talk freely upon everything that stirs or appears. I. Watts called?
• What is to rise, or be up, in the morning. [Colloq.] Shak called?
• What is public disturbance or commotion; tumultuous disorder; seditious uproar. Being advertised of some stirs raised by his unnatural sons in England. Sir J. Davies called?
• What is agitation of thoughts; conflicting passions called?