COOK (UP) Synonyms: 40 Similar and Opposite Words

cook (up)

verb

Definition of cook (up)

as in to devise

to create or think of by clever use of the imagination cooked up a scheme to get out of doing the dishes

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Recent Examples of Synonyms for cook (up)

Verb

To create objects with collapsibility as a core feature, Toyonaga’s team devised an analytic design algorithm allowing incremental construction of complex scissored surfaces.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 29 Aug. 2026
Then, in a famous 1937 paper, the mathematician Alan Turing devised a model based on hypothetical machines that could read and write symbols printed on an infinite tape according to a set of simple rules.

— Ben Brubaker, Quanta Magazine, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of devise

Verb

Members maintain the club's 129-year-old building, construct new stretches of track and fix each other's trains.

— Brittney Melton, NPR, 27 Aug. 2026
Testing quantum sensing before launch Infleqtion will now construct an initial sensor head and an electronics engineering unit.

— Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of construct

Verb

None of these ideas were invented by Instagram or by women alone; the concept of the attention economy dates to the early 1970s, and the notion that no press is bad press has existed since the 19th century.

— Laura Jung, Vogue, 25 Aug. 2026
That move by the duo behind Desilu Productions invented the concept of TV syndication and the blueprint for residuals.

— Erik Pedersen, Deadline, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of invent

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

cooks (up)

cook (up)

cool

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“Cook (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cook%20%28up%29. Accessed 31 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of cook (up)

verb

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