churn

CEFRB2

/tʃɜːn/

verb · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To mix liquid strongly, especially to make butter from milk.

  2. 02

    noun

    A large container used for storing or carrying milk.

Examples

  • If you churn goat milk, you'll get sour milk and butter.

  • It will churn out only goodness in the long run.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
1

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To move rapidly and repetitively with a rocking motion; to tumble, mix or shake.

  2. To produce excessive and sometimes undesirable or unproductive activity or motion.

  3. To agitate rapidly and repetitively, or to stir with a rowing or rocking motion; generally applies to liquids, notably cream.

More examples

In context

  • I was so nervous that my stomach was churning.

  • Now the cream is churned to make butter.

  • no-churn ice cream

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The farmer used a machine to blank the cream into thick butter.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

Noun from Middle English chyrne, cherne, kyrne ( > Scots kirn), from Old English ċyrn, ċyrin, ċirin (“churn”), from Proto-Germanic *kirnijǭ (“churn”); verb from Middle English chyrnen from Old English ċernan, from Proto-Germanic *kirnijaną (“to churn, stir”), of unknown origin. Cognate with West Frisian tsjerne, Dutch karn, Walloon serene, German Karn, Kirne, Norwegian Bokmål kjerne, Danish kærne, Swedish kärna, Icelandic kirna.