churned

verb

past tense of churn
1
as in swirled
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 stirred
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 churned And in September, Hurricane Marie churned up big waves that damaged oceanfront homes near Los Angeles before veering away from the coast. — Nicholas Grondin, The Conversation, 12 Oct. 2026 Alongside, another person whisks over a tall, yolk-yellow block of butter, churned in-house for 48 hours and formed into the craggy shape of one of Rodin’s intentionally incomplete sculptures. — Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, 24 Sep. 2026 The stock was a pandemic darling that cratered, went through a messy acquisition saga, had activist investors at the door, and churned sideways while the rest of biotech tried to find its footing. — Josh Brown,sean Russo, CNBC, 17 Sep. 2026 This latest impact churned the lunar surface for more than 66 miles. — CBS News, 16 Sep. 2026 In contrast, back-to-back storms have churned across the eastern Pacific since July, with 14 named storms and five hurricanes so far in the eastern Pacific hurricane season. — Dan Peck, ABC News, 10 Sep. 2026 Caribbean hurricane season peaks in August and September, bringing with it high winds, rain, and churned up, murky water—not what most people want from a beachy Caribbean vacation. — Evie Carrick, Travel + Leisure, 3 Sep. 2026 Gelato is churned more slowly than ice cream, giving it a dense, almost taffy-like chewy texture. — Anne Ewbank, Sacbee.com, 19 Aug. 2026 European butter is typically churned for a longer amount of time, which means that more buttermilk and water drains off of the solids. — Abigail Wilt, Southern Living, 19 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for churned
  1. swirled
  2. stirred
  3. boiled
  4. washed
  5. spun
  6. whirled
  7. seethed
Verb
  • Speculation has swirled in recent weeks over whether Saudi Arabia would go forward with the event, given high-profile attacks on the Riyadh airport.
    — Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 19 Oct. 2026
  • When Big Bear’s celebrity eagle died in August, questions swirled about what had gone wrong.
    — Iris Kwok, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of swirled
Verb
  • The DeepSeek shock in early 2025 triggered another freakout as the Chinese AI model stirred doubts about the necessity of all that capex.
    — Jason Ma, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Earlier this year, Yu Hao, the founder and CEO of leading robot-vacuum-maker Dreame, made headlines and stirred controversy with his goal of building it into the world’s first $100 trillion company.
    — Derek Rose, Time, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of stirred
Verb
  • The agitation of the team’s fanbase boiled to the surface this summer.
    — Andy McCullough, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Super-fresh corn on the cob hardly needs to be cooked, let alone boiled.
    — Lisa Cericola, Southern Living, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of boiled
Verb
  • The collection also includes an oversize reversible bomber jacket, washed and distressed sweatshirts and T-shirts, a polo, baseball caps and dedicated kids’ pieces.
    — Luisa Zargani, Footwear News, 13 Oct. 2026
  • The tongs used to grab pastelitos, croquetas and empanadas from the hot box had been in use more than four hours without being washed, rinsed and sanitized again.
    — David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 10 Oct. 2026
Definition of washed
Verb
  • The car spun counter-clockwise and overturned, stopping on its roof.
    — Paula Wethington, CBS News, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Trouble for Modified Gravity Several independent experts buy the tale spun by Keim and his colleagues.
    — Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of spun
Verb
  • Loose white sand blew into the air and whirled around at the edge of the sea like a fog.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Within this awkward relic of several other ages, New York’s past gets fetishized, chopped up, and whirled together into digestible entertainment.
    — Justin Davidson, Curbed, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of whirled
Verb
  • When Burgess put both their names on the sign outside their Bridgeport, Connecticut, workshop, Fuller seethed.
    — Bill Gourgey, Popular Science, 29 Apr. 2026
  • Despite performing alongside the Sailors, Burney quietly seethed over the way Guzmán treated the band, and Fernández in particular.
    — Longreads, Longreads, 5 Mar. 2026
Definition of seethed

Browse Nearby Words

churn
churned
churned out
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Cite this Entry

“Churned.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/churned. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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