kirn
1 Americanverb (used with or without object)
noun
noun
-
a harvest celebration; a feast or party celebrating a successful harvest.
-
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.
-
the last handful of oats, wheat, or other grain that is gathered in the harvest.
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
As Mr. Morritt has said of him as he appeared at Laird Nippy's kirn of earlier days, "To witness the cordiality of his reception might have unbent a misanthrope."
From Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Volume 6 by J. G. (John Gibson) Lockhart
"Lang straes are nae motes," quo' the wife when she haul'd the cat out o' the kirn.
From The Proverbs of Scotland by Alexander Hislop
"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
Nae man can seek his marrow i' the kirn sae weel as him that has been in't himsel.
From The Proverbs of Scotland by Alexander Hislop
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
