churns

present tense third-person singular of churn
1
as in swirls
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 stirs
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 churns Although all of the solar system’s planets with atmospheres have wave-spawning disturbances, only Saturn churns them out looking like polygons, geometric shapes bounded by straight lines. — ABC News, 2 Sep. 2026 For all of Jaws' carnage, nothing churns the gut quite like the death of local boy Alex Kintner, played by Jeffrey Voorhees. — Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 20 June 2026 First, Two Scoops Creamery uses a high butter fat content and churns the ice cream directly in the Plaza Midwood store. — Tristan Graziano, Charlotte Observer, 4 June 2026 Fashion month and awards season may have drawn to a close, but the global cultural calendar churns on. — Mahoro Seward, Vogue, 25 Mar. 2026 As the song churns on, the focus narrows in on West until everything else falls away. — Jayson Greene, Pitchfork, 3 Mar. 2026 Their immense gravitational influence churns gas, dust, and even proximate stars around them, thus exerting a tremendous influence on their host galaxies. — Robert Lea, Space.com, 20 Feb. 2026 Its back is a row of shields and churns the oceans to a frothing boil. — Big Think, 5 Feb. 2026 Harris is one of tens of thousands of Americans killed or injured each year by gun violence, a public health crisis that escalated in the pandemic and churns a new victim into a hospital emergency room every half hour. — Fred Clasen-Kelly, USA Today, 19 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for churns
Verb
  • Max Martin, Grande sings of blowing through breakups and make-ups and enduring mounting exhaustion with mass notoriety while the music swirls patiently and frequently angrily underneath.
    — Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 3 Aug. 2026
  • The galaxy's heart shines brightly in the image, with gleaming rays of light radiating from its center while gas and dust swirls around.
    — Chelsea Gohd, Space.com, 19 May 2026
Verb
  • The moody Moon stirs your 10th House of Career, while quirky Uranus activates your 4th House of Home, asking for balance between visibility and rest.
    — Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 16 Sep. 2026
  • While science is often perceived as cold and overly logical, for Schroeder its practice stirs a humility and appreciation for the vastness of nature and the depth of time.
    — Brad Balukjian, Rolling Stone, 9 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • There’s an untamed rage that constantly boils underneath his surface.
    — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 21 Sep. 2026
  • This electric kettle boils quickly and has five presets to reach the optimal brewing temperatures for specific tea varieties.
    — Sian Babish, PEOPLE, 17 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • There’s so many new ideas surfacing constantly that my head spins.
    — Rachel DeSantis, PEOPLE, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Once the tarantula has been consumed, the larva spins a cocoon and pupates into a mature wasp in two to three weeks.
    — Sean Donnelly, USA Today, 17 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • Tom Rhys Harries seethes as Matt Hagen, a pretty boy who loses his looks only to regain them from an experimental procedure that makes a jumble of his psyche.
    — Randy Myers, Mercury News, 2 Sep. 2026
  • In the very human-scale role of Chef, all that glamour and pageantry seethes just beneath the skin.
    — Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 2 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • Cool, icy, and tangy, this blender dessert whirls buttermilk, ice, and honey into a sweet, frothy cloud of a frappe perfect for hot summer nights.
    — Anna Kovel, Martha Stewart, 10 July 2026
  • The heady Moon whirls into your 6th House of Effort, highlighting habits that support productivity.
    — Tarot.com, Chicago Tribune, 23 Mar. 2026
Verb
  • Tehran has dug in its heels — to Trump’s frustration — as energy prices rise, the global economy roils and poll numbers on the administration’s handling of the war dip ahead of November’s midterm congressional elections.
    — Matthew Lee, Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Tehran has dug in its heels — to Trump’s frustration — as energy prices rise, the global economy roils and poll numbers on the administration's handling of the war dip ahead of November’s midterm congressional elections.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 Sep. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Churns.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/churns. Accessed 26 Sep. 2026.

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