stirred up; stirring up; stirs up
Definition of stir up
1
: to cause (someone) to feel a strong emotion and a desire to do something
The speech stirred up the crowd.
2
: to cause (something) to move up into and through the air or water
The workers stirred up a lot of dust.
3
: to cause (something, usually something bad or unpleasant) to happen
They're trying to stir up trouble. But, of course, there's a reason politicians generally try to communicate deliberately: It helps them avoid saying things that might offend voters or stir up controversy.— Philip Bump I'm not a rebel, trying to stir things up just to be provocative.— Norma Klein … the incident stirred up a hornet's nest of protest and indignation.— Robert T. Martinott
Keep scrolling for more
Test Your Vocabulary
Who Knew?
-
- What is a ruelle?

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?
TAKE THE QUIZ
A daily challenge for crossword fanatics.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Words at Play
Ask the Editors
Word Games
Share stir up
Time Traveler for stir up
The first known use of stir up was in the 15th century
See more words from the same century