I. stir 1 S3 W3 /stɜː $ stɜːr/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle stirred , present participle stirring )
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: styrian ]
1 . MIX [transitive] to move a liquid or substance around with a spoon or stick in order to mix it together:
Stir the paint to make sure it is smooth.
stir something with something
She stirred her coffee with a plastic spoon.
stir something in/into something
Stir a cup of cooked brown rice into the mixture.
2 . MOVE SLIGHTLY [intransitive and transitive] to move slightly, or to make something move slightly:
The crowd began to stir as they waited for the band to start.
A gentle breeze stirred the curtains.
3 . LEAVE A PLACE [intransitive] to leave or move from a place:
He hadn’t stirred from his chair all morning.
4 . FEELINGS
a) [transitive] to make someone have a strong feeling or reaction
stir memories/emotions etc
Looking at the photographs stirred childhood memories of the long hot summers.
The poem succeeds in stirring the imagination.
b) [intransitive] if a feeling stirs in you, you begin to feel it:
Excitement stirred inside her.
5 . DO SOMETHING [transitive] to make someone start doing something
stir somebody to do something
The incident stirred students to protest.
6 . CAUSE TROUBLE be stirring (it) British English informal to cause trouble between people by spreading false or secret information:
Ben’s always stirring!
stir somebody/something ↔ up phrasal verb
1 . to deliberately try to cause arguments or bad feelings between people:
John was always stirring up trouble in class.
Dave’s just trying to stir things up because he’s jealous.
2 . to make small pieces of something move around in the air or in water:
The wind had stirred up a powdery red dust.
II. stir 2 BrE AmE noun
[ Sense 1-2: Date: 1300-1400 ; Origin: ⇨ ↑ stir 1 ]
[ Sense 3: Date: 1800-1900 ; Origin: Perhaps from Romany stariben , sturraben 'prison' ]
1 . [countable usually singular] a feeling of excitement or annoyance
create/cause a stir
Plans for the motorway caused quite a stir among locals.
2 . [countable usually singular] an act of stirring something:
Give that pan a stir, will you?
3 . [uncountable and countable] American English old-fashioned informal a prison
• • •
THESAURUS
■ preparing food
▪ grate to cut cheese, carrot etc into small pieces by rubbing it against a special tool:
Grate the cheese and sprinkle it over the top of the pasta.
▪ melt to make butter, chocolate etc become liquid:
Melt the butter, chocolate, and 1 teaspoon of cream over a low heat.
▪ sieve British English , sift American English to put flour or other powders through a ↑ sieve (=tool like a net made of wire, which you use for removing larger grains or pieces) :
Sift the flour and cocoa before adding to the rest of the mixture.
▪ chop to cut something into pieces, especially using a big knife:
Chop up the vegetables.
▪ dice to cut vegetables or meat into small square pieces:
Dice the carrots and then fry them in butter.
▪ season to add salt, pepper etc to food:
Season the meat before grilling.
▪ crush to use a lot of force to break something such as seeds into very small pieces or into a powder:
Add one clove of crushed garlic.
▪ mix to combine different foods together:
Mix together all the ingredients in one bowl.
▪ beat/whisk to mix food together quickly with a fork or other tool:
Whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks.
▪ stir to turn food around with a spoon:
Stir the sauce gently to prevent burning.
▪ fold something in to gently mix another substance into a mixture:
Fold in the beaten egg whites.
▪ knead to press ↑ dough (=a mixture of flour and water) many times with your hands when you are making bread:
Knead the dough for ten minutes, until smooth.
▪ drizzle to slowly pour a small amount of a liquid onto something:
Drizzle with olive oil.
▪ let something stand to leave something somewhere, before you do something else with it:
Let the mixture stand for a couple of hours so that it cools naturally.
▪ serve to put different foods together as part of a meal:
Serve with rice and a salad.
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Serve the aubergines on a bed of lettuce.