churn

1 of 2

noun

ˈchərn 

plural churns

1

: a container in which cream is stirred or shaken to make butter

2

: a regular, quantifiable process or rate of change that occurs in a business over a period of time as existing customers are lost and new customers are added

The biggest problem they face is churn. Wireless providers lose an average of about 30% of their customers a year to competitors.

—Brian O'Reilly

also : a similar process or rate of change involving loss and addition of employees, companies, etc.

The resulting employment churn—the average job tenure is now two years, and today's typical 32-year-old has held nine different jobs—means more risks as well as more opportunities to discover new paths.

—Jamais Cascio

churn

2 of 2

verb

churned; churning; churns

transitive verb

1

: to agitate (milk or cream) in a churn in order to make butter

The farmer churns his cream every day.

2

a

: to stir or agitate violently

an old stern-wheeler churning the muddy river

larger particles pound and churn the Moon's surface

—E. M. Shoemaker

b

: to make (something, such as foam) by so doing

3

of a stockbroker or brokerage : to make (the account of a client) excessively active by frequent purchases and sales primarily in order to generate commissions

unscrupulous brokers may churn an account, trading frequently to generate high commissions

—Mary Rowland

intransitive verb

1

: to work a churn (as in making butter)

2

a

: to produce, proceed with, or experience violent motion or agitation

her stomach was churning

churning legs

b

: to proceed by or as if by means of rotating members (such as wheels or propellers)

boats churning across the harbor

Synonyms

Verb

• boil
• moil
• roil
• seethe

Examples of churn in a Sentence

Verb

The motorboats churned the water.

The water churned all around us.

The wheels began to slowly churn.

He showed them how to churn butter.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The moves in streaming come as Disney tries to shore up its streaming business by reducing viewer churn and increasing engagement. —Samantha Masunaga, Los Angeles Times, 3 Apr. 2024

Tentpole franchises, seen as a way to reduce subscriber churn, have remained nominal at Netflix, where Extraction is the most notable film series. —Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Apr. 2024

Marketing leaders are accustomed to obsessing over conversions and churn—just not within their own ranks. —Lila MacLellan, Fortune, 1 Apr. 2024

Instead, there has been a quickening, lowering churn: five Prime Ministers, three general elections, two financial emergencies, a once-in-a-century constitutional crisis, and an atmosphere of tired, almost constant drama. —Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2024

The Panthers have gone 5-11, 5-11, 5-12, 7-10 and 2-15 in the five full years under Tepper, a run characterized by churn of coaches, personnel men and quarterbacks. —Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Mar. 2024

What’s sometimes lost in the churn, though, is an exploration of the economics that currently underpin the development of GenAI infrastructure, in particular, the supply and demand imbalance of these investments. —Rodrigo Madanes, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024

Taking on too much can create organizational churn, while showing quick, iterative progress will help improve learning and adoption. —Brad Adgate, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024

There is much lower religious churn among Black Protestants and among Jews who seem overall happy in their faith traditions and tend to stay there. —Jason Derose, NPR, 27 Mar. 2024

Verb

Morgan has been churning the Carolina roster the way a bunch of middle-school kids rock the pool at a last-day-of-school party, but that’s understandable. —Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 28 Mar. 2024

All those characteristics mean that plenty of people will be churning them out for spring meals, including Easter brunch, when eggs are a popular centerpiece. —Becky Krystal, Washington Post, 30 Mar. 2024

Right-wing creators feed off each other in a crushing hate pipeline that churns trans danger into dollars. —Jeffrey Marsh, Rolling Stone, 28 Feb. 2024

To be sure, our data for women’s time as CEO is drawn from a small sample size—the very problem that makes tenures and chief executive churn relevant. —Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune, 21 Feb. 2024

While the two Georges squared off two yards apart after the running back churned upfield in traffic, Kittle lost his angle on Karlaftis. —Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Feb. 2024

Amid churning local political controversies around national identity, the students were surely looking to developments in Europe and the United States for artistic inspiration, with contemporary art magazines as a guide. —Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2024

For several months there has been churning in San Diego government circles about the possibility of multiple tax increases on the November ballot. —Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Feb. 2024

My blood pressure lowers, and my mind stops churning. —Jane Alexander, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Feb. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English chirne, cherne, going back to Old English cirm (erroneously for cirin or cirn), cyrin, going back to Germanic *kernō, kernōn (whence also Middle Dutch keerne, kerne "butter churn," Middle Low German kerne, karne, kirne, Old Norse kirna —in kirnuaskr "churn pail"), of uncertain origin

Verb

Middle English chyrnen, derivative of chirne, cherne churn entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Phrases Containing churn

• churn out
• churn through

Kids Definition

churn

1 of 2 noun

ˈchərn 

: a container in which milk or cream is stirred or shaken in making butter

churn

2 of 2 verb

1

: to stir or shake in a churn (as in making butter)

2

a

: to stir or shake violently

the boat's propeller churning the water

b

: to produce, move with, or experience violent motion or agitation

her stomach was churning

churning legs

Legal Definition

churn

transitive verb

ˈchərn

: to make (the account of a client) excessively active by frequent purchases and sales primarily in order to generate commissions

Note: Churning is a violation of federal securities laws.