<HEAD><TITLE>DICTIONARY: stir - st. john's eve</TITLE></HEAD>
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<A NAME="stir">
<B>stir</B> (1), verb, <B>stirred,</B> <B>stirring,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to set in motion; move; shake. <BR> <I>Ex. The wind stirs the leaves.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to change the position or situation of; move, especially slightly. <BR> <I>Ex. Thy companion had been slain by thy side ... without thy stirring a finger to his aid (Scott).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to mix by moving around with a spoon, fork, stick, or some other implement or device; or with the hand. <BR> <I>Ex. to stir the fire with a poker. He stirs the sugar in his tea with his spoon. She stirred her soup to quicken its cooling.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>to excite to feeling, emotion, or passion; affect strongly; move. <BR> <I>Ex. Words ... that really stir the soul (Anthony Trollope). Abraham Lincoln was stirred to the depths of his being by the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act (Sir Winston Churchill).</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>to move to action; incite; instigate. <BR> <I>Ex. The untruth of the stories by which they had been stirred to rebellion (James A. Froude).</I> (SYN) rouse, animate, agitate. <DD><B> 6. </B>to bring into notice or debate. <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to move about; be active. <BR> <I>Ex. No one was stirring in the house.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to pass from rest or inaction to motion or action; begin to move, especially slightly; budge. <BR> <I>Ex. They dare not stir.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to become active, much affected, or excited. <BR> <I>Ex. The countryside was stirring with new life.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>to be in circulation; be current. <BR> <I>Ex. There is no news stirring here now (William Dean Howells).</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>to be mixed with a spoon, fork, or some other implement, or with the hand. <BR> <I>Ex. This dough stirs hard.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>movement; action. <BR> <I>Ex. There was a stir in the bushes where the boys were hiding.</I> (SYN) motion, activity. <DD><B> 2. </B>a state of motion, activity, briskness, or bustle. <DD><B> 3. </B>excitement. <BR> <I>Ex. The coming of the queen caused a great stir.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>emotion; impulse; feeling. <DD><B> 5. </B>the act of stirring. <BR> <I>Ex. She gave the mixture a hard stir.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>a jog; thrust; poke. <DD><B> 7. </B>(Archaic.) a public disturbance, tumult, or revolt. <BR><I>expr. <B>stir oneself,</B> </I>to move briskly; bestir. <BR> <I>Ex. The French ambassador ... stirred himself not only to keep this project alive, but to bring it to a practical conclusion (John H. Burton).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>stir up,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>to set going; incite; stimulate. </I> <I>Ex. He stirs up the other children to mischief.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to excite; provoke; induce. <BR> <I>Ex. to stir up a mutiny.</I> noun <B>stirrer.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="stir">
<B>stir</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Slang.) prison. <BR> <I>Ex. He's just out of stir.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="stirabout">
<B>stirabout, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (British.) a porridge made with corn meal or oatmeal. </DL>
<A NAME="stircrazy">
<B>stir-crazy, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Slang.) mentally disturbed because of long confinement or subjection to dull, restrictive routine. <BR> <I>Ex. They go through little rituals, crouching in a corner and rubbing a hand ceremoniously or sitting motionless for hours in apparent catatonia--"just stir-crazy," as one staff man phrased it (Scientific American).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="stirfry">
<B>stir-fry, </B>transitive verb, intransitive verb, <B>-fried,</B> <B>-frying.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to stir very fast while frying in a little oil or fat. <BR> <I>Ex. Stir-frying is the technique most often used in Chinese food preparation (Jean Hewitt).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="stirk">
<B>stirk, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a bullock or heifer between one and two years old. </DL>
<A NAME="stirless">
<B>stirless, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> without stir or movement; not stirring; motionless. </DL>
<A NAME="stirlingcycle">
<B>Stirling cycle,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Thermodynamics.) a modified form of the Carnot cycle in which all the heat is added and rejected at the highest and lowest temperatures reached. </DL>
<A NAME="stirlingengine">
<B>Stirling engine,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an external-combustion heat engine using the Stirling cycle. <BR> <I>Ex. The Stirling engine burns its fuel in a continuous low pressure combustion system outside the cylinders (Science Journal).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="stirlingsformula">
<B>Stirling's formula,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Mathematics.) a formula for approximating the value of higher factorials, using transcendental numbers pi and <I>e.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="stirp">
<B>stirp, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a stock or family. <DD><B> 2. </B>lineage. <BR> <I>Ex. Some maid Of royal stirp (James Russell Lowell).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="stirps">
<B>stirps, </B>noun, pl. <B>stirpes.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>stock; family. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Law.) the person from whom a family is descended. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Biology.) the organic units present in a newly fertilized ovum. </DL>
<B>stirrup, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a support for a rider's foot, that hangs from the side of a saddle. A stirrup is usually a loop of metal or wood with the bottom part flattened and often broadened. <BR> <I>Ex. The rider stood up in his stirrups to get a better view.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>something shaped like a stirrup, especially a U-shaped clamp or support. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Nautical.) one of the short ropes hanging from a yard, with an eye at the lower end through which a footrope is passed and thus supported. <DD><B> 4. </B><B>=stapes.</B> adj. <B>stirruplike.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="stirrupbone">
<B>stirrup bone,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the innermost of the three bones in the middle ear, resembling a stirrup; stapes. </DL>
<A NAME="stirrupcup">
<B>stirrup cup,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a cup of wine or other liquor handed to a rider when already on horseback setting out for a journey, or to mounted huntsmen at the beginning of a fox hunt. <DD><B> 2. </B>a drink, especially an alcoholic drink, taken or offered just before leaving or at parting. </DL>
<A NAME="stirrupleather">
<B>stirrup leather</B> or <B>strap,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the leather strap by which a stirrup hangs from the saddle. </DL>
<A NAME="stirruppump">
<B>stirrup pump,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a hand pump held by the foot in a stirruplike bracket, used to put out fires with water pulled from a bucket, tank, or pond. </DL>
<A NAME="stirup">
<B>stir-up, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the action of stirring up or condition of being stirred up; agitation; commotion. <BR> <I>Ex. How it gives the heart and soul a stir-up (Robert Browning).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="stitch">
<B>stitch</B> (1), noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>one complete movement of a threaded needle through cloth in sewing or embroidery, or through skin, or flesh, in surgery. <BR> <I>Ex. Take long stitches when you baste your skirt hem.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>one complete movement of the needle or other implement, as in knitting, crocheting, tatting, or lacemaking. <DD><B> 3. </B>a particular method of taking stitches, or the kind of work thus produced. <BR> <I>Ex. blanket stitch, buttonhole stitch.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>a loop or portion, as of thread or yarn, made by a stitch. <BR> <I>Ex. Rip out these long stitches. The doctor will take the stitches out of the wound tomorrow.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>a piece of cloth or clothing. <BR> <I>Ex. He hadn't a dry stitch on.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>(Informal, Figurative.) a small bit. <BR> <I>Ex. The lazy girl wouldn't do a stitch of work.</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>a sudden, sharp, stabbing pain, especially a spasmodic one in the intercostal muscles. <BR> <I>Ex. After running all the way home, he had a stitch in his side. Laugh yourself into stitches (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to make stitches in; fasten or ornament with stitches. <BR> <I>Ex. She stitched a pocket on the new apron. The doctor stitched the cut to close it.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to fasten (cartons or the like) by stapling. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to work with a needle and thread; make stitches; sew. <BR><I>expr. <B>in stitches,</B> </I>laughing uncontrollably. <BR> <I>Ex. With this Latin outburst [he] had Oxford masters and deans in stitches today (New York Times).</I> noun <B>stitcher.</B> adj. <B>stitchlike.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="stitch">
<B>stitch</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Dialect.) a linear or temporal span, viewed as a fragment or part of a whole. <BR><I>expr. <B>a good stitch,</B> </I>a considerable distance or period. <BR> <I>Ex. You have gone a good stitch; you may well be weary; sit down (John Bunyan).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="stitchery">
<B>stitchery, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the process or the product of stitching or sewing; needlework. <BR> <I>Ex. yards of fine stitchery.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="stitching">
<B>stitching, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act or work of a person who stitches. <BR> <I>Ex. She continued her stitching.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>stitches collectively. </DL>
<B>stitchwort, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of certain plants of the pink family, especially a white-flowered species supposed to cure a stitch in the side. Also, <B>stitchwort.</B> </DL>
<B>stiver, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a Dutch coin or unit of money. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) anything having small value. <BR><I>expr. <B>not a stiver,</B> </I>not at all; nothing. <BR> <I>Ex. They did not care a stiver if my head was blown off (Blackwood's Magazine).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="stjohnsbread">
<B>St.-John's-bread, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the edible bean of the carob. </DL>
<A NAME="stjohnsday">
<B>St. John's Day,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> June 24, Midsummer Day, named for Saint John the Baptist. </DL>
<A NAME="stjohnseve">
<B>St. John's Eve,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the night before St. John's Day, long celebrated with bonfires and other festivities in various countries of Europe, apparently in continuation of an ancient heathen festival of the summer solstice. </DL>
