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Webster 1913 Edition

Stir

Stir

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Stirred
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Stirring
.]
[OE.
stiren
,
steren
,
sturen
, AS.
styrian
; probably akin to D.
storen
to disturb, G.
stören
, OHG.
stōren
to scatter, destroy. √166.]
1.
To change the place of in any manner; to move.
My foot I had never yet in five days been able to
stir
.
Sir W. Temple.
2.
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
.
Shakespeare
3.
To bring into debate; to agitate; to moot.
Stir
not questions of jurisdiction.
Bacon.
4.
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.
Shakespeare
And for her sake some mutiny will
stir
.
Dryden.
☞ 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.
Syn. – To move; incite; awaken; rouse; animate; stimulate; excite; provoke.

Stir

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To move; to change one’s position.
I had not power to
stir
or strive,
But felt that I was still alive.
Byron.
2.
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.
3.
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.
4.
To rise, or be up, in the morning.
[Colloq.]
Shak.

Stir

,
Noun.
1.
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.
2.
Public disturbance or commotion; tumultuous disorder; seditious uproar.
Being advertised of some
stirs
raised by his unnatural sons in England.
Sir J. Davies.
3.
Agitation of thoughts; conflicting passions.

Webster 1828 Edition

Stir

STIR

,
Verb.
T.
stur. [G., to stir, to disturb.]
1.
To move; to change place in any manner.
My foot I had never yet in five days been able to stir.
2.
To agitate; to bring into debate.
Stir on the questions of jurisdiction.
3.
To incite to action; to instigate; to prompt.
An Ate stirring him to blood and strife.
4.
To excite; to raise; to put into motion.
And for her sake some mutiny will stir.
To stir up,
1.
To incite; to animate; to instigate by inflaming passions; as, to stir up a nation to rebellion.
The words of Judas were good and able to stir them up to valor. 2 Maccabees.
2.
To excite; to put into action; to begin; as, to stir up a mutiny or insurrection; to stir up strife.
3.
To quicken; to enliven; to make more lively or vigorous; as, to stir up the mind.
4.
To disturb; as, to stir up the sediment of liquor.

Definition 2024

Stir

Stir

See also: stir and štír

Luxembourgish

Noun

Stir f ‎(plural Stiren)

  1. (anatomy) forehead

stir

stir

See also: Stir and štír

English

Verb

stir ‎(third-person singular simple present stirs, present participle stirring, simple past and past participle stirred)

  1. (transitive, dated) To change the place of in any manner; to move.
    • (Can we date this quote?), Sir William Temple
      My foot I had never yet in five days been able to stir.
  2. (transitive) To disturb the relative position of the particles of, as of a liquid, by passing something through it; to agitate.
    She stirred the pudding with a spoon.‎
  3. (transitive) To agitate the content of (a container) by passing something through it.
    Would you please stand here and stir this pot so that the chocolate doesn't burn?‎
  4. (transitive) To bring into debate; to agitate; to moot.
    • (Can we date this quote?), Francis Bacon
      Stir not questions of jurisdiction.
  5. (transitive) To incite to action; to arouse; to instigate; to prompt; to excite.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Chaucer
      To stir men to devotion.
    • (Can we date this quote?), William Shakespeare
      An Ate, stirring him to blood and strife.
    • (Can we date this quote?), John Dryden
      And for her sake some mutiny will stir.
    • 1922, Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit
      That night he was almost too happy to sleep, and so much love stirred in his little sawdust heart that it almost burst.
  6. (intransitive) To move; to change one’s position.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Byron
      I had not power to stir or strive, But felt that I was still alive.
  7. (intransitive) To be in motion; to be active or bustling; to exert or busy oneself.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Byron
      All are not fit with them to stir and toil.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Charles Merivale
      The friends of the unfortunate exile, far from resenting his unjust suspicions, were stirring anxiously in his behalf.
  8. (intransitive) To become the object of notice; to be on foot.
    • (Can we date this quote?), Isaac Watts
      They fancy they have a right to talk freely upon everything that stirs or appears.
  9. (intransitive, poetic) To rise, or be up and about, in the morning.
    • 1907, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “chapter IV”, in The Younger Set (Project Gutenberg; EBook #14852), New York, N.Y.: A. L. Burt Company, published 1 February 2005 (Project Gutenberg version), OCLC 4241346:
      "Mid-Lent, and the Enemy grins," remarked Selwyn as he started for church with Nina and the children. Austin, knee-deep in a dozen Sunday supplements, refused to stir; poor little Eileen was now convalescent from grippe, but still unsteady on her legs; her maid had taken the grippe, and now moaned all day: "Mon dieu! Mon dieu! Che fais mourir!"
Usage notes
  • In all transitive senses except the first, stir is often followed by up with an intensive effect; as, to stir up fire; to stir up sedition.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

Noun

stir ‎(countable and uncountable, plural stirs)

  1. The act or result of stirring; agitation; tumult; bustle; noise or various movements.
    • (Can we date this quote?), Sir John Denham.
      Why all these words, this clamor, and this stir?
    • (Can we date this quote?), John Locke.
      Consider, after so much stir about genus and species, how few words we have yet settled definitions of.
  2. Public disturbance or commotion; tumultuous disorder; seditious uproar.
    • (Can we date this quote?), Sir John Davies.
      Being advertised of some stirs raised by his unnatural sons in England.
  3. Agitation of thoughts; conflicting passions.
Translations

Etymology 2

Noun

stir ‎(uncountable)

  1. (slang) Jail; prison.
    He's going to spendin' maybe ten years in stir.‎
    • 1920, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Avery Hopwood, The Bat, chapterI:
      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.

Anagrams

Danish

Verb

stir

  1. imperative of stirre

Etymology

From Old High German stirna. Cognate with German Stirn.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʃtiːə̯/

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