Meaning

(transitive) To agitate rapidly and repetitively, or to stir with a rowing or rocking motion; generally applies to liquids, notably cream..

Definitions by Sense

1. (transitive) To agitate rapidly and repetitively, or to stir with a rowing or rocking motion; generally applies to liquids, notably cream.
2. (transitive, figuratively) To produce excessive and sometimes undesirable or unproductive activity or motion.
3. (intransitive) To move rapidly and repetitively with a rocking motion; to tumble, mix or shake.
4. (business, of a customer) To stop using a company's product or service.
5. (informal, travel, aviation) To repeatedly cancel and rebook a reservation in order to refresh ticket time limits or other fare rule restrictions.
6. (US, informal, finance, travel) To continually sign up for new credit cards in order to earn signup bonuses, airline miles, and other benefits.
7. (finance) To carry out wash sales in order to make the market appear more active than it really is.
8. (Internet slang) To digest.

Example Sentences

Now the cream is churned to make butter.

no-churn ice cream

Churned in his teeth, the foamy venom rose.

The slope of the terrain, shaped like a funnel, squeezed the growing swell of churning snow into a steep, twisting gorge.

I was so nervous that my stomach was churning.

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.

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.

Word Forms

• churns
• churning
• churned

Synonyms for churn

Related Words

When Should You Use Churn?

Use churn when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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