to churn

Examples

• All

• A few meters away, islands in the churning sea of yellow, three aliens stood facing them.

  Fiction book (1991)

• There's a whole bunch of bodies down there just churning around, caught in the current.

  Henry's Crime (2010)

• People used to wonder how that little body could churn through the water that way.

  Harry and Tonto (1974)

• Boy, you sure do churn up that dust.

  Hud (1963)

• Storm and rain and wind and cloud churn the seas with their own power.

  Deep Blue (2003)

• It's like a giant machine just churning through the earth.

  Anything Goes With James English

• A team of midnight horses led the coach, their legs churning as though they swam down the lane.

  Fiction book (1992)

• The yard was turning into a damned swamp, the mud churned by every passing truck and loading machine.

  Fiction book (1991)

• So there we were kind of churning out press releases, strategizing, coming up with a wide array of arguments.

• The river began to churn violently after the heavy rainstorm, creating dangerous currents.

Synonyms

B

to boil

vsto churn

• Informal

114 5.5

To become very angry or excited

refers to violent physical movement caused by turbulence rather than heat or emotion

R

to roil

vsto churn

18 8.5

To make water or other liquid move strongly and become cloudy

describes the liquid moving violently rather than the act of disturbing it

S

to slosh around

vsto churn

3 5.9

To make liquid move and spill around inside a container

involves violent internal agitation rather than clumsy spilling and splashing

M

to moil

vsto churn

• Archaic

9.9

To move and swirl roughly, as water in a storm

focuses more on violent movement rather than mere agitation

W

to welter

vsto churn

8.9

To move or be tossed about in rough water

is more about violent agitation caused by disturbance rather than chaotic rolling

Phrasal Verbs

C

to churn out

• Informal

21 4.0

To make large amounts quickly with little care

C

to churn butter

2 6.8

To make butter by shaking cream until it becomes solid

C

to churn ice cream

1 3.5

To mix and freeze a sweet creamy mixture by stirring it without stopping

C

to churn up

• Informal

1 7.3

Make people feel strong disgust or moral upset

Compounds

B

butter churn

2 7.4

A container for making butter by stirring cream until butter forms

How Agitated

to seethe

18 7.3

to roil

18 8.5

to churn

51 4.8

to swirl

120 2.7

Surface Forms

Etymology