churn

1 of 2

noun

plural churns
1
: a container in which cream is stirred or shaken to make butter
2
: a regular, quantifiable process or rate of change that occurs in a business over a period of time as existing customers are lost and new customers are added
The biggest problem they face is churn. Wireless providers lose an average of about 30% of their customers a year to competitors.Brian O'Reilly
also : a similar process or rate of change involving loss and addition of employees, companies, etc.
The resulting employment churn—the average job tenure is now two years, and today's typical 32-year-old has held nine different jobs—means more risks as well as more opportunities to discover new paths. Jamais Cascio

churn

2 of 2

verb

churned; churning; churns

transitive verb

1
: to agitate (milk or cream) in a churn in order to make butter
The farmer churns his cream every day.
2
a
: to stir or agitate violently
an old stern-wheeler churning the muddy river
larger particles pound and churn the Moon's surfaceE. M. Shoemaker
b
: to make (something, such as foam) by so doing
3
of a stockbroker or brokerage : to make (the account of a client) excessively active by frequent purchases and sales primarily in order to generate commissions
unscrupulous brokers may churn an account, trading frequently to generate high commissionsMary Rowland

intransitive verb

1
: to work a churn (as in making butter)
2
a
: to produce, proceed with, or experience violent motion or agitation
her stomach was churning
churning legs
b
: to proceed by or as if by means of rotating members (such as wheels or propellers)
boats churning across the harbor

Examples of churn in a Sentence

Verb The motorboats churned the water. The water churned all around us. The wheels began to slowly churn. He showed them how to churn butter.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Wright might never surf the fender of a moving train, but he’s nailed how to make audiences see the churn inside a stubborn literature professor who buries his emotions under concrete. Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2024 Like larger studio rivals, Up Entertainment’s push to bundle multiple channels into its offering is a means of driving more engagement with subscribers and reducing churn. Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 4 Mar. 2024 The goal is to enhance their streaming capabilities at an affordable cost while providing value and reducing churn. Brad Adgate, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024 In a baseball world where the smaller market clubs have increasingly embraced the ongoing Tampa Bay style of year-over-year roster churn, of trading soon-to-be expiring assets for younger, cheaper ones, of always hedging on the present for the sake of the future, the Brewers are embracing the now. Journal Sentinel, 30 Jan. 2024 One antidote to this rapid churn is, of course, more analog sources of inspiration, in particular books — the older and harder to find the better. Catherine Hong, New York Times, 23 Jan. 2024 The history of Las Vegas has been marked by a relentless churn of hotels, casinos, theaters and restaurants. Jenny Vrentas, New York Times, 9 Feb. 2024 This is the sixth appointment the county supervisors have made this legislative cycle, as resignations and, in one case, expulsion, have caused churn in the lawmaker ranks. Mary Jo Pitzl, The Arizona Republic, 31 Jan. 2024 But some are also questioning how high Netflix can push it without significant churn. Rachyl Jones, Fortune, 24 Jan. 2024
Verb
Read Next: Watch: Shark Drags Fisherman Overboard in Florida Everglades Only 10 or 15 feet off Glasner’s port-side bow, the water erupts into a churning froth as the pod of six or more sharks fight over the half-eaten snapper. Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 7 Mar. 2024 Things To Do Situated where the churning New River cuts a groove of canyon 1,500 feet deep into slabs of shale and Nuttall sandstone, this is one of those rare gems that allows people to get their nature fix via a wide variety of activities. Emily Pennington, Southern Living, 6 Mar. 2024 In 2022, a spokesperson from the company also that there are notebooks that show that the idea was already churning before Sara arrived. Johanna Mayer, Scientific American, 23 Feb. 2024 If a summer downpour churns the ground to mud, the kids have fun. Richard Espinoza, Kansas City Star, 21 Feb. 2024 As the storm churned, multiple homes were damaged around Los Angeles and dozens of people were forced to flee. Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times, 6 Feb. 2024 Then, as it is released into the creek, the water churns over the concrete structures of the outfall creating more foam. Karl Schneider, The Indianapolis Star, 26 Feb. 2024 Those were the days when the rapids, reduced to just 14 churning miles from their historic 41, ended below a thunderous falls called Big Drop 3. Cassidy Randall, Rolling Stone, 18 Feb. 2024 The rumor mill about these two tends to start churning whenever one of them has a big project going on, and that certainly seems to have been the case here. Hanna Lustig, Glamour, 16 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'churn.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English chirne, cherne, going back to Old English cirm (erroneously for cirin or cirn), cyrin, going back to Germanic *kernō, kernōn (whence also Middle Dutch keerne, kerne "butter churn," Middle Low German kerne, karne, kirne, Old Norse kirna —in kirnuaskr "churn pail"), of uncertain origin

Verb

Middle English chyrnen, derivative of chirne, cherne churn entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of churn was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near churn

Cite this Entry

“Churn.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/churn. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

churn

1 of 2 noun
: a container in which milk or cream is stirred or shaken in making butter

churn

2 of 2 verb
1
: to stir or shake in a churn (as in making butter)
2
a
: to stir or shake violently
the boat's propeller churning the water
b
: to produce, move with, or experience violent motion or agitation
her stomach was churning
churning legs

Legal Definition

churn

transitive verb
ˈchərn
: to make (the account of a client) excessively active by frequent purchases and sales primarily in order to generate commissions

Note: Churning is a violation of federal securities laws.

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