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Churn

//tʃɜːn// noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A vessel used for churning, especially for producing butter. countable, uncountable

    "a butter churn"

  2. 2
    a vessel in which cream is agitated to separate butterfat from buttermilk wordnet
  3. 3
    A milk churn (container for the transportation of milk). countable, uncountable

    "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."

  4. 4
    Customer attrition; the phenomenon or rate of customers leaving a company. uncountable
  5. 5
    The time when a consumer switches his/her service provider. countable, uncountable
Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    The mass of people who are ready to switch carriers. countable, uncountable
  2. 7
    Cyclic activity that achieves nothing. countable, uncountable

    "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."

  3. 8
    The last grain cut at harvest; kern. countable, historical, uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To agitate rapidly and repetitively, or to stir with a rowing or rocking motion; generally applies to liquids, notably cream. transitive

    "Now the cream is churned to make butter."

  2. 2
    stir (cream) vigorously in order to make butter wordnet
  3. 3
    To produce excessive and sometimes undesirable or unproductive activity or motion. figuratively, transitive

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

  4. 4
    be agitated wordnet
  5. 5
    To move rapidly and repetitively with a rocking motion; to tumble, mix or shake. intransitive

    "I was so nervous that my stomach was churning."

Show 4 more definitions
  1. 6
    To stop using a company's product or service.

    "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."

  2. 7
    To repeatedly cancel and rebook a reservation in order to refresh ticket time limits or other fare rule restrictions. informal
  3. 8
    To continually sign up for new credit cards in order to earn signup bonuses, airline miles, and other benefits. US, informal
  4. 9
    To carry out wash sales in order to make the market appear more active than it really is.

Etymology

Etymology 1

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.

Etymology 2

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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