churned

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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 Alongside, another person whisks over a tall, yolk-yellow block of butter, churned in-house for 48 hours and formed into the craggy shape of one of Rodin’s intentionally incomplete sculptures. — Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, 24 Sep. 2026 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for churned
Verb
  • The hurricane’s center swirled parallel to the coast, closing in on the Puerto Vallarta area, where its most damaging winds and rain were expected to hit around midnight and continue through Monday morning.
    — Fernando Llano, Los Angeles Times, 11 Oct. 2026
  • Tweets about Cunningham, thinkpieces, and rebuttals have all swirled into an endless mass of controversy — one dominated by derogatory rhetoric, threats, and anti-trans memes.
    — CT Jones, Rolling Stone, 10 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • To English leftist folkies, lately stirred by Bertrand Russell and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the lyric, coming from Dylan, would cut through the anti-Americanism not uncommon in their midst.
    — Sean Wilentz, Rolling Stone, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Even before its launch, the series stirred spirited discussion from enthusiasts of the book overs Kazan’s decision to center the story’s chilling antagonist Cathy Ames, played by Florence Pugh.
    — Yvonne Villarreal, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026
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
Verb
  • Fendi used washed gray denim for its straight-fitting jeans for men and women.
    — Angela Velasquez, Footwear News, 5 Oct. 2026
  • From there, the exhibition gives way to the striking editorial images with which Pavarotti quickly made his name, set against walls washed in scarlet, fuchsia, canary yellow, plum, and terracotta.
    — Alison S. Cohn, Vogue, 2 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • Bubba Wallace exited the Bank of America 400 on Lap 77 after Alex Bowman spun into him near the bank on the Turn 2 corner exit on Sunday in a race eventually won by Chase Briscoe.
    — Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 11 Oct. 2026
  • The track hoe operator repeatedly spun the machine to the west, dug into a mound of sand, spun 180 degrees and dropped the sand.
    — Fedor Zarkhin, Los Angeles Times, 11 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • Within this awkward relic of several other ages, New York’s past gets fetishized, chopped up, and whirled together into digestible entertainment.
    — Justin Davidson, Curbed, 1 Oct. 2026
  • 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
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

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Churned.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/churned. Accessed 13 Oct. 2026.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster