churn
churn — verb
1. to stir or push a liquid or loose substance around with strong, steady force, so
to stir or push a liquid or loose substance around with strong, steady force, so that it moves violently and becomes mixed
The storm churned the sea into huge waves that crashed against the harbour wall.
collocation: storm churns the sea
Femi watched the grey water churn as the ferry's engine pushed through the river.
The machine's blades churned the paint mixture until it was perfectly smooth.
Beneath the surface, strong currents churned the sand into cloudy water.
文法句型
churn + object (liquid)
churn (no object)
churn up + object
用法筆記
Can be used with 'up': the wind churned up the dust from the dry ground. The intransitive form (the water churns) describes water moving on its own, while the transitive form (something churns the water) adds an external cause.
常見錯誤
2. to beat or shake cream or milk in a container over and over until the fat separa
to beat or shake cream or milk in a container over and over until the fat separates and becomes butter
Farmers used to churn cream by hand, a slow and tiring job.
collocation: churn cream by hand
The dairy churns fresh milk every morning to make butter for the local market.
Hoa learned to churn butter from her grandmother during a summer visit to the farm.
On Grandfather's 1950s farm, the family churned butter each week using a wooden barrel.
文法句型
churn + cream/milk
churn + cream/milk + into + butter
用法筆記
This is the oldest historical sense of 'churn' and the origin of the noun. Today, most butter is made in factories, so this sense is mostly used in historical, rural, or traditional cooking contexts.
常見錯誤
3. to feel a strong rolling or squeezing sensation in your stomach, usually from ne
to feel a strong rolling or squeezing sensation in your stomach, usually from nervousness, fear, or illness
As Jude walked up to the stage to give his speech, his stomach churned.
collocation: stomach churns (with nervousness)
When the plane hit rough air, Yan felt her stomach begin to churn.
Just looking at the exam paper made Arjun's stomach churn with anxiety.
The smell of the hospital waiting room made Diya's stomach churn.
- settle
when the stomach stops feeling upset and returns to normal
文法句型
stomach churns
stomach churns with + emotion
用法筆記
The subject is almost always 'stomach.' This sense is often used in the continuous form ('my stomach was churning all morning'). The feeling can come from fear, worry, excitement, or physical sickness — not from literal digestion problems.
常見錯誤
4. to stop buying from one company and start buying from another instead, especiall
to stop buying from one company and start buying from another instead, especially when many customers do this repeatedly
Mobile phone companies worry when customers churn to a cheaper provider.
intransitive: customers churn (to competitor)
The streaming service lost a thousand subscribers who churned to a newer platform.
Bilal studied call records to predict which phone-company customers were likely to churn next month.
Telecom firms that offer poor support often see their customers churn within months.
- stay
continue as a customer of the same company
- remain loyal
keep using the same service without switching
文法句型
customers churn
churn + to/from + company
用法筆記
Common in business and marketing contexts. Also used as a noun (sense 3: churn rate). Related but distinct from 'churn out' (produce quickly in large quantities), which is a separate phrasal verb not covered in these senses.
常見錯誤
churn — noun
1. a traditional container, usually tall and narrow with a handle and a lid, used f
a traditional container, usually tall and narrow with a handle and a lid, used for turning cream into butter by stirring or shaking it
The old wooden churn in Rosa's kitchen still smelled of cream from years of butter-making.
Tamás bought a wooden churn at the antique market after watching a butter-making video.
You pour the cream into the churn and turn the handle until butter forms.
In the museum, Heather saw a 19th-century butter churn with a long wooden handle.
用法筆記
Distinguish from noun sense 2 (milk churn): this container is used for making butter, while a milk churn is used for transporting milk. Butter churns often have a handle or plunger for stirring.
2. a tall metal or plastic container with a lid, used for carrying large amounts of
a tall metal or plastic container with a lid, used for carrying large amounts of milk from a farm to a collection point or dairy
The dairy farmer carried two heavy metal churns to the truck before sunrise for pickup.
collocation: metal churn / milk churn
Before the morning milking, Ilan wiped the churn's inside clean with a damp cloth.
Each churn held about forty litres of fresh milk from the herd.
Green Valley Dairy collected the full churns from Patel's farm gate every Tuesday morning.
用法筆記
This sense is more common in British English. In modern farming, milk is usually stored in large refrigerated tanks, so 'milk churn' is now mostly a historical term. Distinguish from noun sense 1: this is a transport container, not a butter-making tool.
常見錯誤
3. the rate at which customers stop using a company's service within a certain peri
the rate at which customers stop using a company's service within a certain period, often shown as a percentage
The company reduced its churn by offering loyal customers a discount.
collocation: reduce churn
A high churn rate signals that people are unhappy with the service.
collocation: churn rate
Christopher's telecom team studied monthly churn data to understand why new users left.
The app's churn dropped sharply after the team fixed the login problems.
- attrition rate
more formal; broader term for gradual loss of customers or members over time
- turnover
more commonly used for employees; can also apply to customers but less precisely
- retention rate
the opposite of churn rate; measures how many customers stay
用法筆記
Often used as a modifier ('churn rate,' 'churn data'). The verb sense 4 (customers churn) shares this business meaning. In subscription-based industries like telecom, streaming, and banking, churn is a key performance metric.