kirn

¹ American  

[kurn, kirn] / kɜrn, kɪrn /

verb (used with or without object)

1. to churn.

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noun

1. a churn.

kirn ² American  

[kurn, kirn] / kɜrn, kɪrn /

noun

Scot. and North England.

1. a harvest celebration; a feast or party celebrating a successful harvest.

2. the harvesting of the last handful of oats, wheat, or other grain, noting either the end of the harvest season or the winning of a race against other reapers.

3. the last handful of oats, wheat, or other grain that is gathered in the harvest.

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Etymology

Origin of kirn¹

1300–50; Middle English kirne (noun) < Scandinavian; compare Old Norse kirnuaskr a churn; cognate with churn

Origin of kirn²

First recorded in 1770–80; origin uncertain; perhaps akin to corn ¹

Example Sentences

In Arco's example of an artificial-language, plurals end in s, numerals must follow nouns and kirn, kima, kime, kimi mean who, whose, to whom, and whom.

From Time Magazine Archive

"If he did, he couldn't help letting it dribble out by degrees, like a leaky kirn, being too stingy to tell it out free, like any other body," she said.

From The Scotch Twins by Perkins, Lucy Fitch

Come you an' gie us a hand wi' the kirn this meenit!

From The Lilac Sunbonnet by Crockett, S. R. (Samuel Rutherford)

One of the reapers consented to be blindfolded, and having been given a sickle in his hand and turned twice or thrice about by his fellows, he was bidden to go and cut the kirn.

From The Golden Bough by Frazer, James George, Sir

Havin gone into the room where the kirn was, he lifted the large stone by which the lid was kept down, and placed it on the floor.

From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 13 by Various