to stir the embers
1
7.8
- idiom
- Sometimes a song can stir the embers of sadness you thought was gone.
Examples
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We tried to stir the embers of our childhood friendship during the reunion.
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Don't stir the embers of that argument!
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She hoped to stir the embers of creativity by revisiting her old studio.
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He decided to stir the embers of their old friendship.
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Sometimes a song can stir the embers of sadness you thought was gone.
-
She hoped to stir the embers of creativity by revisiting her old studio.
-
We tried to stir the embers of our childhood friendship during the reunion.
Synonyms
139
3.0
Make someone remember something from the past
80
4.8
To bring a memory, image, or feeling to mind
65
3.5
To make someone remember the past, for example a song or photo
65
4.4
To cause strong feelings in someone
32
5.1
Make a feeling or interest strong again
22
6.2
To mention an unpleasant or forgotten memory from the past
2
5.6
To make a fire or embers start burning again
1
5.1
Make a feeling, interest, or memory come back
1
8.6
To find new energy or passion for something
1
9.1
To make something start to burn, like a fire or a strong feeling
1
6.8
Remember past events on purpose, often ones you would rather forget
Antonyms
How Revived
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal action of 'stir(ing) the embers' (reviving a dying fire) maps clearly onto the figurative sense of rekindling feelings or memories, so a learner who knows 'stir' and 'ember' can plausibly infer the metaphor. However, the meaning depends on a conventional metaphorical extension rather than purely compositional semantics, so it is not fully transparent in the same way as literal verb+particle constructions.
Etymology
Stir the embers comes from the image of a dying fire: if you stir the glowing embers, you can wake the flames and make the fire burn again. That's why the phrase means 'to bring back feelings or memories'.