| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| churn |
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| PRONUNCIATION: |  chûrn |
| NOUN: | A vessel or device in which cream or milk is agitated to separate the oily globules from the caseous and serous parts, used to make butter. | | VERB: | Inflected forms: churned, churn·ing, churns
| | TRANSITIVE VERB: | 1a. To agitate or stir (milk or cream) in order to make butter. b. To make by the agitation of milk or cream: churn butter. 2. To shake or agitate vigorously: wind churning up the piles of leaves. See synonyms at agitate. 3. To buy and sell (a client's securities) frequently, especially in order to generate commissions. | | INTRANSITIVE VERB: | 1. To make butter by operating a device that agitates cream or milk. 2. To move with or produce great agitation: waves churning in the storm; so angry it made my stomach churn. | | PHRASAL VERB: | churn out To produce in an abundant and automatic manner: churns out four novels a year. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English chirne, from Old English cyrn, cyrin. | | OTHER FORMS: | churn er —NOUN
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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