Definition

1. Verb (transitive):
   • To fabricate or invent (something false or misleading): To create a story, excuse, or plan that is not true or not based on fact.
   • To prepare (a meal or dish) by combining and heating ingredients: To make food ready for eating by the process of cooking.

Usage and Examples

• Meaning 1: To fabricate or invent:

  • The children cooked up a fantastic story to explain the broken vase.
  • Politicians are often accused of cooking up statistics to support their arguments.

• Meaning 2: To prepare food:

  • Let's cook up some pasta for dinner.
  • She can cook up a delicious meal from just a few basic ingredients.

Advanced Usage and Nuances

• "to cook up a scheme/plot": To devise a clever, often secret or dishonest, plan.
  • The thieves cooked up a scheme to rob the bank.
• "to cook up trouble": To cause problems or create a difficult situation, often intentionally.
  • He's always cooking up trouble between his friends.

Variants and Related Words

• Concoct (verb): Similar to "cook up," meaning to invent a story or prepare a dish by mixing various ingredients.
• Fabricate (verb): To invent or create something, typically with deceitful intent (closer to the first meaning of "cook up").
• Whip up (phrasal verb): To prepare food or a meal quickly; can also mean to excite or stir up feelings.

Synonyms

• Invent, devise, make up, hatch (for the "fabricate" meaning).
• Prepare, make, fix (for the "prepare food" meaning).

Related Phrasal Verbs / Constructions

• Cook the books (idiom): To falsify financial records. (Note: This is a related idiom, not a variant of "cook up").
  • The accountant was fired for cooking the books.
• Cook off (phrasal verb): An event where people compete to prepare the best food.

Related Idioms

• Too many cooks spoil the broth: A saying meaning that if too many people are involved in a task, it will not be done well.
• What's cooking?: An informal greeting meaning "What's happening?" or "What's going on?"

Verb

1. make up something artificial or untrue
2. prepare or cook by mixing ingredients
   • concoct a strange mixture