1. Home
2. Idioms
3. churn

churn

---

---

churn something out

to produce something in large numbers, perhaps carelessly. We churn toys out by the thousand. This factory can churn out these parts day and night.

See also: churn, out

churn something up

to stir up a liquid; to mix up material suspended in water. The oars of our boat churned the shallow water up, leaving little clouds of sediment in our wake. The oars churned up the mud.

See also: churn, up

churn something out

also churn something out

to produce something in large amounts and without much thought Rosco churned out a book a year for 13 years and earned a lot of money doing it.

See also: churn, out

churn out

Produce in an abundant and automatic manner, as in He churned out a novel every six months. This idiom transfers the turning of milk into butter to other kinds of production. [Early 1900s]

See also: churn, out

churn out

v.

To produce something in an abundant and automatic manner: The author churns out four novels a year. Although the chairs look handmade, the company churns them out in a factory.

See also: churn, out

churn

tv. [for a stockbroker] to cause a heavy turnover in the portfolio of an investor. (The broker collects commissions on each transaction.) I reported my broker for churning my account.