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

See Examples For:

kirn

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

“I’ll loup the linn when ye canna wade, I’ll kirn the kirn, an’ I’ll turn the bread; An’ the wildest fillie that e’er ran rede I’se tame’t,’ quoth Aiken-drum!

From Spare Hours by John Brown

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

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

Thence countra wives, wi' toil an' pain, May plunge an' plunge the kirn in vain; For oh! the yellow treasure's ta'en By witching skill; An' dawtet, twal-pint Hawkie's gaen As yell's the bill.

From The Mysteries of All Nations Rise and Progress of Superstition, Laws Against and Trials of Witches, Ancient and Modern Delusions Together With Strange Customs, Fables, and Tales by James Grant

"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 Lucy Fitch Perkins