churn

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To move or stir something, especially liquid, with great force and motion.

   The storm made the sea churn and crash against the rocks.

2. 2
   verb

   To stir cream forcefully in order to make butter.

   In the past, farmers churned fresh cream by hand to make butter.

3. 3
   verb

   To stop being a customer of a company or stop using its service.

   The phone company lost money as more subscribers churned each month.

4. 4
   noun

   A container in which cream is stirred to make butter.

   The old farmhouse still had a wooden butter churn in the kitchen.

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.

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