cooking (up)

Definition of cooking (up)next
present participle of cook (up)

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cooking (up)
Verb
  • And commissioners spent all that time devising the College Sports Commission in an attempt to stabilize the NIL/portal market, then sit back and let one school in their conference steal yet another star QB half an hour before the portal closes.
    Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 28 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • Risk is one of the most consequential currencies in geopolitics, and Washington has spent years constructing an elaborate risk architecture around China.
    Dewardric L. McNeal, CNBC, 13 Feb. 2026
  • Bonds are used to fund brick-and-mortar projects, which include constructing, equipping, maintaining and furnishing district facilities.
    Kendrick Calfee February 11, Kansas City Star, 11 Feb. 2026
Verb
  • Tell that to Soren Sorensen (Sam) Adams, the Danish immigrant who is credited with inventing many of the same contraptions, along with some six hundred others, including sneezing powder and the joy buzzer.
    Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
  • Teachers are not inventing problems.
    Lance Walters, Washington Post, 9 Feb. 2026
Verb
  • Chalamet was vital in drumming up the momentum for the original film, which remained a theatrical draw due to rave reviews and stellar word of mouth.
    Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 8 Feb. 2026
  • 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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Cooking (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cooking%20%28up%29. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!