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churning

churning

8 3.7
The act of shaking cream to make butter
  • noun
  • /ˈtʃɜrnɪŋ/
translation icon : batido
  • The river unwound quickly here, constrained by the quays, and I could hear its churning and grumbling.

Examples

  • Any shingling or butter churning need doing?

  • The idle churning of his thoughts dredged up recent memories, trivial plans, and old preoccupations.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • Butter churning, if you know what I mean.

  • Ellen took a few more steps until the churning water scrubbed her shins, then her thighs.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • The farmers demonstrated the traditional method of churning cream to make fresh butter.

  • After pouring the cream into the container, she began churning it vigorously to create butter.

  • At the fair, children took turns churning the milk into butter using a wooden paddle.

Synonyms

agitation
vschurning
1 4.8

Moving something quickly to mix or clean it

is used to turn cream into butter by vigorous shaking
stirring
vschurning
1 1.0

Mixing a liquid using a spoon or stick

is used to turn cream into butter rather than mixing with a utensil

Antonyms

10 4.3

A slow sinking of things to a lower level, like a building foundation or dust on furniture

1 3.7

Making something steady and less likely to change suddenly

How Vigorous

churning
8 3.7
stirring
1 1.0
mixing
51 1.8

Surface Forms

churning singular
churnings plural

Morphology

churning = churn (transparent) = churn + ing

Formed by the productive gerund/nominalizing -ing on the verb 'churn', denoting the action or process.

Etymology

Churning comes from the old word churn, a container or action for 'turning' and 'shaking' cream to make butter. So the noun churning names the act of stirring or shaking a liquid, especially to make butter.