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1. Move an implement through in order to mix
   "stir the soup"; "stir my drink"; "stir the soil"
    
2. Move very slightly
   "He stirred in his seat";
   - shift, budge, agitate, scooch [informal]
    
3. Arouse feelings in
   "stir emotions";
   - stimulate, excite
    
4. Excite the feelings or emotions of; disturb the peace of
   "These stories stirred the community";
   - stimulate, shake, shake up, excite
    
5. Affect emotionally
   "A stirring movie";
   - touch
    
6. Summon into action or bring into existence, often as if by magic
   "stir the spectre of unemployment";
   - raise, conjure, conjure up, invoke, evoke, call down, arouse, bring up, put forward, call forth
    
7. To begin moving
   "As the thunder started the sleeping children began to stir";
   - arouse
    
8. Mix or add by stirring
   "Stir nuts into the dough"

1. A prominent or sensational but short-lived news event
   "he made a great stir and then disappeared";
   - splash
    
2. Emotional agitation and excitement
    
3. A rapid active commotion
   - bustle, hustle, flurry, ado, fuss

Derived forms: stirs, stirring, stirred

See also: inflame

Type of: affect, agitation, arouse, bunfight [Brit, informal], bun-fight [Brit, informal], call up, carry-on [Brit, informal], commotion, displace, disruption, disturbance, elicit, enkindle [literary], evoke, fire, flutter, hoo-ha [informal], hoo-hah [informal], hurly burly, impress, kerfuffle [Brit, informal], kindle, move, provoke, raise, ruckus [informal], ruction, rumpus [informal], sensitise [Brit], sensitize, song and dance [Brit, informal], strike, summon, to-do [informal], tumult, work

Encyclopedia: Stir