churn
gb/t͡ʃˈɚn/ us/t͡ʃˈɚn/
B1
English
felkavar, kavarog, kavarog a gyomra, felfordul a gyomra, köpül, vajköpülő, kavargás, nyüzsgés, feltúr, lemorzsolódik, ügyfeleket veszít, lemorzsolódási arány, lemorzsolódás, túlzott kereskedést folytat, túlforgat
VERB
B2
1
Usage pattern:
[something] churns; churn [something]
The storm churned the sea into white foam.
A vihar fehér habbá korbácsolta a tengert.
The mixer churned the batter until it was smooth.
A mixer simára keverte a masszát.
Wheels churned the puddles into muddy water.
Learner examples
The water churned under the boat.
A víz kavargott a csónak alatt.
The machine churned the mixture.
A gép kavarta a keveréket.
Common mistake:
Learners may confuse this with 'turn' (rotate once) rather than continuous violent movement.
Meaning
stir violently; make foam
Collocations
churning water
|churning sea
|churning waves
|churn the water
|mud churned up
|a churning river
|churning foam
|churning current
Synonyms
roil (Suggests a rough, disturbed surface, especially of water.)
|
agitate (More general; can be physical or emotional.)
Antonyms
calm (To make or become still and not turbulent.)
|
settle (To become quieter or less disturbed.)
Themes
nature
|daily_life
Definition
To move around strongly and repeatedly.
To move or stir something about forcefully and continuously, often so that it becomes frothy or turbulent.
VERB
B2
2
Usage pattern:
[someone's] stomach churns; [someone] churns with [emotion]
My stomach churned as the plane hit turbulence.
Kavargott a gyomrom, amikor a repülő turbulenciába került.
The thought of lying to her made his insides churn.
Már a gondolattól is kavargott a gyomra, hogy hazudjon neki.
She read the message again, feeling anger churn into panic.
Learner examples
My stomach churned before the exam.
Kavargott a gyomrom a vizsga előtt.
The bad smell made me churn inside.
A rossz szagtól felfordult a gyomrom.
Common mistake:
Often used intransitively; *'churn my stomach'* is possible but less common than *'my stomach churned'*.
Meaning
feel sick or anxious
Collocations
stomach churn
|my stomach churned
|make my stomach churn
|churn with anxiety
|churn with anger
|churn inside
|feel your stomach churn
Synonyms
writhe (Stronger and more physical; suggests twisting movement.)
|
seethe (Focuses more on anger than nausea.)
Antonyms
settle (Used of the stomach or emotions becoming calm.)
|
relax (To become less anxious or tense.)
Themes
health
|emotions
Definition
To feel very nervous or sick in your stomach.
To feel disturbed, nauseous, or anxious, as if turning over inside.
VERB
B1
3
köpül
C1
Usage pattern:
churn [cream] (into butter); churn [butter]
They churned fresh cream to make butter.
Friss tejszínből vajat köpültek.
The recipe uses home-churned butter for extra flavor.
A recept a gazdagabb íz kedvéért házilag köpült vajat használ.
Traditionally, the cream was churned by hand.
Learner examples
We churned cream into butter.
Tejszínből vajat köpültünk.
This butter is churned at the farm.
Ez a vaj a farmon, köpüléssel készül.
Common mistake:
Not used for general mixing; it specifically refers to butter-making (or similar vigorous agitation).
Meaning
make butter by mixing cream
Collocations
churn butter
|churn cream
|home-churned butter
|churn the cream
|churned into butter
Synonyms
make (General verb; does not include the specific method.)
Antonyms
buy (Opposite action: purchasing instead of making.)
Themes
food
|home
Definition
To make butter by mixing cream for a long time.
To make butter by shaking or stirring cream until the fat separates from the liquid.
NOUN
B2
4
vajköpülő
C1
Usage pattern:
a churn; a butter churn
An old wooden churn sat by the fireplace.
Egy régi fa vajköpülő állt a kandalló mellett.
They used a hand churn to make small batches of butter.
Kézi vajköpülőt használtak, hogy kis adagokban készítsenek vajat.
The museum displayed a traditional butter churn.
Learner examples
This churn is used to make butter.
Ezt a vajköpülőt vaj készítésére használják.
Common mistake:
Often needs context; many speakers say 'butter churn' to avoid confusion with other senses.
Meaning
a container for making butter
Collocations
butter churn
|wooden churn
|milk churn
|an old churn
|a hand churn
Synonyms
butter maker (More descriptive; less common as a single term.)
Themes
food
|home
|history
Definition
A container used to make butter.
A container in which cream is churned to make butter, traditionally operated by a plunger or crank.
NOUN
C1
5
Usage pattern:
the churn of [something]
From the cliff, they watched the churn of the waves below.
A szikláról nézték alattuk a hullámok kavargását.
He missed the city’s constant churn after moving to the countryside.
Miután vidékre költözött, hiányzott neki a város állandó nyüzsgése.
The office had the usual morning churn of meetings and emails.
Learner examples
I could hear the churn of the waves.
Hallottam a hullámok kavargását.
Common mistake:
This is abstract and often needs a 'of' phrase (e.g., 'the churn of traffic').
Meaning
turbulent movement or activity
Collocations
the churn of the sea
|the churn of traffic
|constant churn
|the daily churn
Synonyms
turmoil (Emphasizes confusion and disorder.)
|
turbulence (Common for air or water movement; more technical sounding.)
Antonyms
stability (A condition of steadiness and little change.)
|
calm (Lack of disturbance or activity.)
Themes
nature
|daily_life
Definition
A lot of busy movement and change.
A state of strong, restless movement or rapid, unsettled activity.
VERB
B2
6
Usage pattern:
churn up [something]
The horses churned up the field after the rain.
Az eső után a lovak feltúrták a mezőt.
Heavy trucks churned the dirt road into deep ruts.
A nehéz teherautók feltúrták a földutat, mély nyomvályúkat hagyva maguk után.
Kids running through the puddles churned up mud.
Learner examples
The car churned up the mud.
Az autó felkavarta a sarat.
Common mistake:
Usually used with 'up' for this meaning (e.g., 'churn up the mud').
Meaning
break up ground by movement
Collocations
churn up mud
|churn up snow
|churn up the ground
|boots churned up
|tire tracks churned up
Synonyms
tear up (Stronger; suggests damage or removal.)
|
stir up (More general; can also mean cause trouble.)
Antonyms
smooth (To make a surface even and less disturbed.)
Themes
daily_life
|transport
|outdoors
Definition
To make the ground messy by moving through it.
To disturb, break up, or mix something such as soil, mud, or snow by repeated movement.
VERB
C1
BUSINESS
7
Usage pattern:
[customers/users/employees] churn; churn [customers]
Many users churn after the free trial ends.
Sok felhasználó lemorzsolódik az ingyenes próbaidőszak lejárta után.
The company changed its onboarding to reduce churn.
A cég átalakította a felhasználói bevezetést, hogy csökkentse a lemorzsolódást.
If support is slow, subscribers churn quickly.
Learner examples
Some users churn after one week.
Néhány felhasználó egy hét után lemorzsolódik.
Common mistake:
In business English, 'churn' often refers to leaving (not just changing). It is commonly uncountable as a process and countable as a rate/number in reports.
Meaning
customers leaving a service
Collocations
users churn
|customers churn
|high churn
|reduce churn
|churned in the first month
|churned subscribers
Synonyms
leave (General and less technical.)
|
attrit (More formal/technical; often used in HR contexts.)
Antonyms
stay (To continue using the service or remain with the company.)
|
retain (Company-focused; to keep customers/users.)
Themes
business
|technology
|work
Definition
When people stop using a service and leave.
To lose customers, users, or employees over time as they stop using a service or leave an organization, often while new ones replace them.
NOUN
C1
BUSINESS
8
Usage pattern:
churn (in [a company/product]); churn among [a group]
The app has low churn compared with its competitors.
Az alkalmazás lemorzsolódási aránya alacsony a versenytársaihoz képest.
We saw a spike in churn after the price increase.
Az áremelés után hirtelen megugrott a lemorzsolódás.
Churn is highest among first-time subscribers.
Learner examples
High churn is bad for a business.
A magas lemorzsolódási arány rossz egy vállalkozásnak.
Common mistake:
Often confused with 'turnover' (which can also mean revenue). In this sense it means people leaving.
Meaning
rate or amount of customer loss
Collocations
high churn
|low churn
|monthly churn
|reduce churn
|track churn
|churn problems
|churn is rising
Synonyms
attrition (More formal; often used for staff as well as customers.)
|
turnover (Common in business; can also mean sales, so context matters.)
Antonyms
retention (Keeping customers/users instead of losing them.)
Themes
business
|technology
|work
Definition
How many customers or users leave over time.
The amount or rate at which customers, users, or employees stop using a service or leave an organization over a period of time.
VERB
C2
TECHNICAL
9
Usage pattern:
churn [an account]
The broker was accused of churning the client’s account for commissions.
A brókert azzal vádolták, hogy jutalékért túlzott kereskedést folytatott az ügyfél számláján.
Regulators fined the firm for churning customer portfolios.
A szabályozó hatóságok megbírságolták a céget az ügyfélportfóliók túlforgatása miatt.
Account churning can be hard to prove without trading records.
Common mistake:
This is a specialized finance meaning; in general contexts, 'churn' usually does not mean 'trade'.
Meaning
trade excessively to earn fees
Collocations
churn an account
|account churning
|churn for commissions
|churn trades
Synonyms
overtrade (Broader; not necessarily for commissions.)
Antonyms
hold (Keeping investments without frequent trading.)
Themes
business
|finance
|law
Definition
To trade too much in a client’s account to make fees.
To carry out excessive buying and selling in a client’s account mainly to generate commissions or fees.
Grammar
Dictionary form
churn
IPA
GB/t͡ʃˈɚn/
US/t͡ʃˈɚn/
Syllables & stress
churn (1 syllable)
Stress on 1st syllable (churn)
Word forms
Noun
- Base: churn
- Plural: churns
Verb
- Base: churn
- 3rd Person Singular: churns
- Present Participle: churning
- Past: churned
Word family
Forms
churns
noun
churning
verb
churned
verb
Expressions
churn out
1/t͡ʃˈɚn ˈaʊt/
phrasal verb
produce quickly in large quantities
To make many things quickly.
Examples
- The factory churns out thousands of phones a day.
- He churned out three reports in one afternoon.
- Some studios churn out sequels with the same formula.
Learner examples
- This factory churns out cars.
- She churned out emails all morning.
churn over
1/t͡ʃˈɚn ˈoʊvɚ/
phrasal verb
think about repeatedly and anxiously
To think about something again and again with worry.
Examples
- She lay awake churning over what she had said.
- He churned the problem over for days without deciding.
- I kept churning over the details and getting more anxious.
churn through
1/t͡ʃˈɚn θɹˈu/
phrasal verb
process or use very quickly
To handle a lot of something quickly.
Examples
- The team churned through hundreds of support tickets in a day.
- The new model churns through data much faster than the old one.
- We churned through our budget in the first quarter.
Learner examples
- The computer churned through the data.
churn up
1/t͡ʃˈɚn ˈʌp/
phrasal verb
stir up; bring to the surface
To stir something and make it messy, or to bring back something unpleasant.
Examples
- The tractor churned up mud as it crossed the field.
- The documentary churned up painful memories for her.
- The argument churned up old resentments.
Learner examples
- The boots churned up the snow.