stir

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
stir1

▶verb (stirs, stirring, stirred)

• 1 move an implement round and round in (a liquid or other substance) in order to mix it thoroughly.

• 2 move or cause to move slightly.

  ■ wake or rise from sleep.

  ■ begin or cause to begin to be active.

• 3 arouse strong feeling in.

  ■ arouse or prompt (a feeling or memory).

• 4 Brit. informal deliberately cause trouble by spreading rumours or gossip.

▶noun

• 1 an act or an instance of stirring or being stirred.

• 2 a disturbance or commotion.

– derivatives
stirrer noun,
stirring adjective & noun,
stirringly adverb.

– origin OE styrian, of Gmc origin.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
stir2

▶noun informal prison.

– origin C19: perh. from Romany sturbin ‘jail’.