churn
Part of speech: verb
noun
Morphological type: simple
Topics: aeronautics
aerospace
aviation
business
communications
electrical-engineering
engineering
finance
lifestyle
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
telecommunications
tourism
transport
travel
Etymology: Noun from Middle English chyrne, cherne, kyrne ( > Scots kirn), from Old English ċyrn, ċyrin, ċirin (“churn”), from Proto-Germanic *kirnijǭ (“churn”); verb from Middle English chyrnen from Old English ċernan, from Proto-Germanic *kirnijaną (“to churn, stir”), of unknown origin. Cognate with West Frisian tsjerne, Dutch karn, Walloon serene, German Karn, Kirne, Norwegian Bokmål kjerne, Danish kærne, Swedish kärna, Icelandic kirna.
Inflected forms:
form: churns
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: churning
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: churned
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: churned
pos: verb
tags: past
form: churns
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: To agitate rapidly and repetitively, or to stir with a rowing or rocking motion; generally applies to liquids, notably cream.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Now the cream is churned to make butter.
no-churn ice cream
Churned in his teeth, the foamy venom rose.
gloss: To produce excessive and sometimes undesirable or unproductive activity or motion.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
transitive
examples: The slope of the terrain, shaped like a funnel, squeezed the growing swell of churning snow into a steep, twisting gorge.
gloss: To move rapidly and repetitively with a rocking motion; to tumble, mix or shake.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: I was so nervous that my stomach was churning.
gloss: To stop using a company's product or service.
pos: verb
examples: Subscriptions can be ended or canceled, which is known as churn. If there are no subscriptions, a customer churns when they stop using the product.
gloss: To repeatedly cancel and rebook a reservation in order to refresh ticket time limits or other fare rule restrictions.
pos: verb
tags: informal
gloss: To continually sign up for new credit cards in order to earn signup bonuses, airline miles, and other benefits.
pos: verb
tags: US
informal
gloss: To carry out wash sales in order to make the market appear more active than it really is.
pos: verb
gloss: To digest.
pos: verb
tags: Internet
gloss: A vessel used for churning, especially for producing butter.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: a butter churn
We notice by our exchanges that great efforts are being made throughout the western States especially, to palm off upon the farming public various kinds of patent churns, or to induce many mechanics to give large sums for the Right to manufacture the same—while in a majority of cases, we believe, the articles are absolutely worthless, or inferior to older kinds that might be procured for less money. We have repeatedly cautioned our readers against purchasing these new fangled churns until after they have been more fully tested; and we are happy to know that our remarks have saved not a few of our friends from imposition. To set this matter in a clearer light before our readers, we will glance at a few of the different churns, now most prominently before the public—some valuable, some useless.
gloss: A milk churn (container for the transportation of milk).
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: As the ends of the up and down platforms are not opposite each other, it is not possible to provide the ordinary type of barrow crossing, and the full churns were too heavy to be man-handled up and down the stairs of the footbridge.
In the old days, milk trains consisted entirely of vans loaded with ten-gallon churns. When filled, these churns weigh 130 lb. each and their manipulation is an art. [...] Like the tank wagons, the churns are dairy property, but farmers often have other ideas, and find their own uses for them—it has not been unknown for dairy inspectors to find missing churns tucked away in an unsuspected corner of a farmhouse, filled to the brim with banknotes!
gloss: Customer attrition; the phenomenon or rate of customers leaving a company.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
gloss: The time when a consumer switches his/her service provider.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: The mass of people who are ready to switch carriers.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: Cyclic activity that achieves nothing.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: I wished my brain would shut up and knew that soon I'd have to start tidying, but first I needed to rest, so I tried to quell the pointless churn behind my eyes and kept on trying (in a minute) until Vicky came back home.
Getting the right manager has just been made more difficult by not having Champions League to offer. There will also be a huge churn of players after the lavish, unrewarding outlay this season.
gloss: The last grain cut at harvest; kern.
pos: noun
tags: countable
historical
uncountable
Derived words: churnable
churnalist
churnalize
churn and burn
churner
churningly
churn out
churn up
gut-churning
rechurn
stomach-churning
unchurn
unchurned
butter churn
churn drill
churnful
churnover
churn rate
churn-staff
churn supper
churny
milk churn
swing churn
Translations: