churns

Noun

churn (countable and uncountable, plural churns)

1. A vessel used for churning, especially for producing butter.
   • a butter churn
2. A milk churn (container for the transportation of milk).
   • As the ends of the up and down platforms are not opposite each other, it is not possible to provide the ordinary type of barrow crossing, and the full churns were too heavy to be man-handled up and down the stairs of the footbridge.1951 October, “The Why and the Wherefore: Milk Platform at Beccles”, in Railway Magazine, page 717
3. (uncountable) Customer attrition; the phenomenon or rate of customers leaving a company.
4. The time when a consumer switches his/her service provider.
5. The mass of people who are ready to switch carriers.
6. Cyclic activity that achieves nothing.
   • I wished my brain would shut up and knew that soon I'd have to start tidying, but first I needed to rest, so I tried to quell the pointless churn behind my eyes and kept on trying (in a minute) until Vicky came back home.2007, Hari Kunzru, My Revolutions, page 102

See all 15 meanings of churn