churn

Meanings

Verb

• To agitate rapidly and repetitively, or to stir with a rowing or rocking motion; generally applies to liquids, notably cream.
• To produce excessive and sometimes undesirable or unproductive activity or motion.
• To move rapidly and repetitively with a rocking motion; to tumble, mix or shake.
• To stop using a company's product or service.
• To repeatedly cancel and rebook a reservation in order to refresh ticket time limits or other fare rule restrictions.
• To continually sign up for new credit cards in order to earn signup bonuses, airline miles, and other benefits.
• To carry out wash sales in order to make the market appear more active than it really is.

Noun

• A vessel used for churning, especially for producing butter.
• A milk churn.
• Customer attrition; the phenomenon or rate of customers leaving a company.
• The time when a consumer switches his/her service provider.
• The mass of people who are ready to switch carriers.
• Cyclic activity that achieves nothing.

Origin

• Noun from Middle English cherne, chrine, chyrne, kyrne ( > Scots kirn), from Old English ċyrn, ċyrin, ċirin, from Proto-Germanic *kernǭ ("churn"); verb from Middle English chernen from Old English ċernan, from Proto-Germanic *kirnijaną ("to churn, stir"), of unknown origin. Cognate with West Frisian tsjerne, Dutch karn, Walloon serene, German Karn, Kirne, Norwegian Bokmål kjerne, Danish kjærne, Swedish kärna, Icelandic kirna.