I. churn 1 /tʃɜːn $ tʃɜːrn/ BrE AmE verb
1 . [intransitive] if your stomach churns, you feel sick because you are nervous or frightened:
My stomach was churning on the day of the exam.
2 . [intransitive and transitive] ( also churn up ) if water, mud etc churns, or if something churns it, it moves about violently:
We watched the ocean churn.
3 . [intransitive] if a machine, engine, wheel etc churns, it or its parts begin to move:
I pressed the gas pedal, and slowly the wheels began to churn.
4 . [transitive] to make milk by using a churn
churn something ↔ out phrasal verb
to produce large quantities of something, especially without caring about quality:
She’s been churning out novels for 20 years.
churn somebody/something ↔ up phrasal verb
1 . churn something ↔ up to damage the surface of the ground, especially by walking on it or driving a vehicle over it:
The lawn had been churned up by the tractor.
2 . churn something ↔ up to move water, mud etc around violently:
The oars had churned up the mud, clouding the water.
3 . British English to make someone upset or angry:
Though she looked calm, in reality she was churned up inside.
II. churn 2 BrE AmE noun
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: cyrin ]
1 . [countable] a container used for shaking milk in order to make it into butter
2 . ( also milk churn ) [countable] British English a large metal container used to carry milk in
3 . [uncountable] the number of people who stop buying or using a company's products or services during a particular period