as in devising
to create or think of by clever use of the imagination
cooked up a scheme to get out of doing the dishes
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cooking (up)
Verb
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The Panthers spent most of Saturday’s game (as well as their previous matchup with the Rams) devising ways to get McMillan and Coker running down the field against those small corners.—
Derrik Klassen,
New York Times,
14 Jan. 2026 -
The 40-year-old cooks up ways to make quarterbacks miserable in his sleep, devising schemes that are meant to lure as much as they are intended to confuse.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
10 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The reality is that the AI is concocting elaborate personas, faking as though humans are writing about human woes.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
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Both activities can be fairly ordinary hobbies—games of imagination not so different from crushing on a pop star or concocting stories about a film protagonist.—
Faith Hill,
The Atlantic,
17 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The nonprofit expects to spend another $6 million over the next couple years constructing its new campus.—
Sara B. Hansen,
Denver Post,
31 Jan. 2026
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Is Mark Zuckerberg constructing a gold mine or a financial sinkhole?—
Trefis Team,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Thomas Edison had many misses inventing the lightbulb.—
Teri Sforza,
Oc Register,
24 Jan. 2026
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Created by Terry Nation, the man credited with inventing the Daleks, Blake’s 7 aired for four seasons on the BBC from 1978 to 1981.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
19 Jan. 2026
Verb
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While the Indiana University football team prepares for Monday's College Football Playoff national championship game, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra is drumming up support this weekend on social media.—
Domenica Bongiovanni,
IndyStar,
17 Jan. 2026
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Perhaps the only thing capable of drumming up a Bardian level of attention would be for a famous person—probably Julia Fox—walking the red carpet in nothing but a pair of Pleasers.—
Daniel Rodgers,
Vogue,
28 Dec. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Cooking (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cooking%20%28up%29. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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