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churned

verb

past tense of churn
1
as in swirled
to be in a state of violent rolling motion a churning sea made getting to the island a risky undertaking

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in stirred
to cause (as a liquid) to move about in a circle especially repeatedly churn the cream until it turns into butter

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of churned The stock was a pandemic darling that cratered, went through a messy acquisition saga, had activist investors at the door, and churned sideways while the rest of biotech tried to find its footing. — Josh Brown,sean Russo, CNBC, 17 Sep. 2026 This latest impact churned the lunar surface for more than 66 miles. — CBS News, 16 Sep. 2026 In contrast, back-to-back storms have churned across the eastern Pacific since July, with 14 named storms and five hurricanes so far in the eastern Pacific hurricane season. — Dan Peck, ABC News, 10 Sep. 2026 Caribbean hurricane season peaks in August and September, bringing with it high winds, rain, and churned up, murky water—not what most people want from a beachy Caribbean vacation. — Evie Carrick, Travel + Leisure, 3 Sep. 2026 Gelato is churned more slowly than ice cream, giving it a dense, almost taffy-like chewy texture. — Anne Ewbank, Sacbee.com, 19 Aug. 2026 European butter is typically churned for a longer amount of time, which means that more buttermilk and water drains off of the solids. — Abigail Wilt, Southern Living, 19 Aug. 2026 All the while the fMRI churned on, peering through the dogs’ skulls into the brain below and looking for the areas that lit up as a result of the visual stimuli. — Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 10 Aug. 2026 Not to say that milk doesn’t have a summer purpose—churned, say, into ice cream, or blended into a milkshake—but to most people, these frozen treats are the beginning and end of the list. — Jason O'Bryan, Robb Report, 25 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for churned
  1. swirled
  2. stirred
  3. boiled
  4. washed
  5. spun
  6. whirled
  7. seethed
Verb
  • The risk is that Trump fuels suspicions that swirled on Wall Street this summer that Warsh may not be truly independent.
    — Matt Egan, CNN Money, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Miniature Bellinis, freshly frothed from large pitchers, swirled about on silver trays, happily scooped up by passersby.
    — Leigh Nordstrom, Footwear News, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of swirled
Verb
  • Posing for the sports trading app Novig, Sweeney has stirred a debate regarding oversexualization in the world of advertising.
    — Theara Coleman, TheWeek, 16 Sep. 2026
  • In August, the Los Angeles Times reported that a poll showing Bass leading Raman by nearly 12 percentage points was actually fake in an incident that stirred headlines about the race.
    — Paris Barraza, USA Today, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of stirred
Verb
  • The agitation of the team’s fanbase boiled to the surface this summer.
    — Andy McCullough, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Super-fresh corn on the cob hardly needs to be cooked, let alone boiled.
    — Lisa Cericola, Southern Living, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of boiled
Verb
  • Nearby, a 9-year-old washed his face discreetly in the bushes with a bottle of water, a bright orange backpack slung over his shoulder.
    — Colette Davidson, Christian Science Monitor, 13 Sep. 2026
  • Undamaged tomatoes can often be washed, their stems removed, and frozen solid, then thawed and used in salsas, stews, or marinara later on.
    — Anthony Reardon, Kansas City Star, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of washed
Verb
  • Images of these women spun in my head like the portraits of queens.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 18 Sep. 2026
  • The dollars can be added up, economics can be spun any number of ways, as always, but in terms of quality of life the impact of the three franchises can be felt, if not measured.
    — Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of spun
Verb
  • Melissa Wegman, a Democratic retiree who is also from Bakersfield, said she was shocked when the pump recently whirled to $128 to fill the tank on her SUV.
    — Mike Catalini, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Throughout all this chaos, the Fleetwood Mac touring machine whirled on.
    — Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 23 July 2026
Definition of whirled
Verb
  • When Burgess put both their names on the sign outside their Bridgeport, Connecticut, workshop, Fuller seethed.
    — Bill Gourgey, Popular Science, 29 Apr. 2026
  • Despite performing alongside the Sailors, Burney quietly seethed over the way Guzmán treated the band, and Fernández in particular.
    — Longreads, Longreads, 5 Mar. 2026
Definition of seethed

Browse Nearby Words

churn
churned
churned out
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Cite this Entry

“Churned.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/churned. Accessed 22 Sep. 2026.

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