How to use stir in a sentence

40 example sentences · verb, noun

Stir means to disturb the relative position of the particles (of a liquid or similar) by passing an object through it. Example: “She stirred the pudding with a spoon.”

Examples of stir by meaning

verbTo disturb the relative position of the particles (of a liquid or similar) by passing an object through it.

She stirred the pudding with a spoon.
He stirred his coffee so the sugar wouldn't stay at the bottom.

verbTo disturb the content of (a container) by passing an object through it.

Would you please stir this pot so that the chocolate doesn't burn?

verbTo change the place of in any manner; to move.

'But the bolts can't be stirred, dear,' protested Myra.1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries

verbOf a feeling or emotion: to rise, begin to be felt.

That night he was almost too happy to sleep, and so much love stirred in his little sawdust heart that it almost burst.1922, Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit
Though as I said it, glibly, reassuringly, I knew that I lied, and a little snake of guilt stirred and began to uncoil slightly, guilt and its constant companion deceit.1993, Susan Hill, Mrs de Winter, published 1999, page 54

verbTo rise from sleep or unconsciousness.

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!1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter IV, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC

nounThe act or result of stirring (moving around the particles of a liquid etc.).

Can you give the soup a little stir?

nounAgitation; tumult; bustle; noise or various movements.

When the long, hot journey drew to its end and the train slowed down for the last time, there was a stir in Jessamy’s carriage.1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 7

nounJail; prison.

He's going to be spending maybe ten years in stir.
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.1920, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Avery Hopwood, chapter I, in The Bat: A Novel from the Play (Dell Book; 241), New York, N.Y.: Dell Publishing...
Sing Sing was a tough joint in those days, one of the five worst stirs in the United States.1928, Jack Callahan, Man's Grim Justice: My Life Outside the Law, page 42

More sentences with stir

Flocks of these birds stir up flying insects, which can then be picked off in quick sallies.From the entry sally
The child’s pathetic pleas for forgiveness stirred the young man’s heart.From the entry pathetic
To cook up a batch of biodiesel, scientists stir together methanol and vegetable fat.From the entry cook up
He stirred the campfire stew with a peeled stick, so the bark wouldn't get in it.From the entry peeled
Now add the diced ham to the mixture, then stir in the chopped celery.From the entry diced
Q: How much trouble did you stir up last night? A: Just a bit.From the entry a bit
She stirred up a mixture of oats, barley, cheese, and Pramnian wine.From the entry Pramnian
The early arrival of the bride created a stir.From the entry arrival
Stir the gravy until there are no more lumps.From the entry lump
Political debates often stir up animosity.From the entry animosity
The news story caused a stir.From the entry cause a stir
Stir in the salt and mix thoroughly before allowing the anko to cool for serving.2022, Katherine Tamiko Arguile, Meshi: A Personal History of Japanese Food, Melbourne, Vic.: Affirm Press, →ISBN. From the entry anko
Add the pine nuts and stir to combine with the orecchiette and rabe.2020, Charlotte Druckman, Kitchen Remix: 75 Recipes for Making the Most of Your Ingredients: A Cookbook, Clarkson Potter, →ISBN, page 78. From the entry rabe
Paul Berzas, alias T-Boy, has created quite a stir in boudin circles.2020 November 10, George Graham, Fresh from Louisiana: The Soul of Cajun and Creole Home Cooking, Harvard Common Press, →ISBN, page 123. From the entry t-boy
He stuck his finger into each and stirred; the liquor swirled and got foggy.2018, Shiv Kotecha, The Switch, United States: Wonder, →ISBN, page 122. From the entry ouzo
The GOP's main counterargument has been to stir up race panic.2018 November 5, Mark Gongloff, “Let Trump Be Trump? America's About to Decide”, in Bloomberg, New York, N.Y.: Bloomberg L.P., →ISSN…. From the entry race-baity
Add the cream cheese chunks at the end and stir gently.2017, Blake Spalding, Jennifer Castle, with Lavinia Spalding, “Piñon-Sage Stuffed Summer Squash”, in This Immeasurable Place: Food and…. From the entry cream-cheesy
OCR measurements performed using the stirred microchamber system are accurate, quantitative, operator-independent, and can be performed prospectively.2015 August 11, “Islet Oxygen Consumption Rate (OCR) Dose Predicts Insulin Independence in Clinical Islet Autotransplantation”, in PLOS…. From the entry microchamber
Stir in the coriander leaves and serve your tom kha gai with steamed jasmine rice.2015, Vivek Singh, Spice At Home, page 146. From the entry tom kha gai
Added the chopped choy sum and stir it to release any excess water as steam.2013, Fuchsia Dunlop, “Stir-fried chopped choy sum”, in Every Grain of Rice: Simple Chinese Home Cooking, W. W. Norton & Company, →ISBN…. From the entry choy sum
Karam stirred his lassi as if trying to unchurn the yoghurt.2012, Priya Basil, Ishq and Mushq, page 329. From the entry lassi
Simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, then stir in the cream.2012, Ron Silver, Jen Bervin, Bubby's Homemade Pies. From the entry blurpy
You barely have to stir or incommode yourself to find things out.2010, Stephen Fry, “College to Colleague”, in The Fry Chronicles, London: Michael Joseph, →ISBN, page 87. From the entry incommode
Command Egil the Skald to stand forth and stir our viking blood with his songs of thee.2010, Myra Gross, Archie Gunn, The Star of Valhalla, Wildside Press, →ISBN, page 335. From the entry skald
And if you factor in transvestitism, things get really stirred up.2009 August 21, The New York Times, “Art in Review”, in New York Times. From the entry transvestitism
Those articles in the tabloids stirred up a real hornets' nest.2007, Tom Peavler, The Adjustment. From the entry hornets' nest
Turbulent flow really stirs things up; laminar flow is surprisingly ineffectual at mixing.2000, Steven Vogel, Cats' Paws and Catapults: Mechanical Worlds of Nature and People. From the entry microperson
He appeared to be a sweet zany golden retriever, possibly with some overjuiced terrier stirred in.1999 September 16, Jane Shapiro, chapter 6, in The Dangerous Husband: A Novel, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, page 48. From the entry overjuiced

Meaning of stir

verb To disturb the relative position of the particles (of a liquid or similar) by passing an object through it.
verb To disturb the content of (a container) by passing an object through it.
verb To emotionally affect; to touch, to move.

Full definition of stir

Questions about stir in a sentence

How do you use stir in a sentence?: Stir is used as a verb and noun. For example: “She stirred the pudding with a spoon.”
What is a short sentence with stir?: “Political debates often stir up animosity.”
What does stir mean?: Stir means to disturb the relative position of the particles (of a liquid or similar) by passing an object through it.

Adapted from Wiktionary: stir (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use stir in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/stir. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.