churnn.
/tʃəːn/, U.S. /tʃərn/ 1. A vessel or machine for making butter, in which cream or milk is shaken, beaten, and broken, so as to separate the oily globules which form the butter from the serous parts.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation of dairy produce > [noun] > churning butter > churn
churnc1000
kirn1338
butter churn1577
churning-tub1580
barrel-churn1741
plunge churn1793
box churn1810
table churn1828
dash-churn1865
churner1888
c1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. I. 280/32 Sinum, cyrin.
c1425 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 666/12 Hec antipera, kyrne.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 76 Chyrne, vesselle, cimbia, cumbia.
c1485 Inventory in J. T. Fowler Acts Church SS. Peter & Wilfrid, Ripon (1875) 371 j cherne.
?a1500 Nominale (Yale Beinecke 594) in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 793/21 Hoc valatorium, a scharne.
1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Gii/2 A Cherne, fidelia.
1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Pivv/2 A Churne.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iii. f. 146v A vessell rather deepe, then bigge, round and Cylinder fashion: although in some places they haue other kinde of Charmes lowe and flatte, wherin..they so shake the milke.
1580 C. Hollyband Treasurie French Tong Baratte, a charning tub, or charne.
a1665 K. Digby Closet Opened (1669) 139 If you put these clouts into a Churm with other cream.
1879 Cassell's Techn. Educator (new ed.) IV. 246/2 The barrel slung upon a frame, and turned with two winch-handles is one of the most familiar forms of churn.
1881 S. Evans Evans's Leicestershire Words (new ed.) Churm, sb. and v., var. pron. of ‘churn’.
2. Extended to other vessels or instruments with some resemblance to the preceding, e.g. a kind of pump used in mines, the block or chuck on a porcelain-turner's lathe, a milkcan (originally one shaped like the upright churn), etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > receptacle or container > vessel > [noun] > of specific shape
scallop1401
shipc1410
friar1463
columbe1488
culver1500
bell1651
cornet1677
churn1747
tulip-glass1755
situla1804
nacelle1873
thyrse1876
tsun1958
1747 W. Hooson Miners Dict. sig. 2ij Common Pumps used in the Mines, such as Raggs, Churns, Sweaps, Forces, for drawing of Water.
3. A local popular name of the Daffodil.
ΚΠ
1875 Lanc. Gloss. (E.D.S.)
4. [ < churn v.] Churning (of water, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > irregular movement or agitation > [noun] > agitating, stirring, or mixing
misordering1526
perturbancy1880
churna1882
a1882 D. G. Rossetti White Ship in Ballads & Sonn. Out of the churn of the choking ship.
Compounds
C1. Generalattributive.
churn-maid n.
ΚΠ
1879 Natal Mag. IV. 307 I was not..caught by churn-maids or promiscuous spectators a second time.
churn-power n.
ΚΠ
1874 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Churn-power, a motor for driving churns or churn-dashers to agitate the milk or cream.
churn-shaped adj.
churn-works n.
ΚΠ
1877 E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. (E.D.S.) Churn-dash or Churn-works.
C2. See also churn-milk n., churn-staff n.
churn-boot n. a large boot, supposed to resemble the upright churn.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > shoe or boot > boot > [noun] > large
seven-league boots1707
seven-leagued boots1747
churn-boot1833
beetle-crusher1860
Conestoga1892
1833 T. Carlyle Sartor Resartus i. vii, in Fraser's Mag. Dec. 673/1 The military classes in those old times, whose buff-belts, complicated chains and gorgets, huge churn-boots..have been bepainted in modern Romance.
churn-dash n. the appliance for agitating the milk in the churn.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation of dairy produce > [noun] > churning butter > churning-staff
churn-staff?a1500
churning-staff1768
dash1796
plunger1838
churning-stick1840
churn-dasher1845
dasher1847
churn-dash1860
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps 25 A little water-wheel.. communicated motion to a churndash which made the butter.
1877 E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. (E.D.S.) Churn~dash, the machinery in the interior of a churn.
churn-dasher n. = churn-dash n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation of dairy produce > [noun] > churning butter > churning-staff
churn-staff?a1500
churning-staff1768
dash1796
plunger1838
churning-stick1840
churn-dasher1845
dasher1847
churn-dash1860
1845 C. M. Kirkland Western Clearings 101 Their hands had handled the churn-dasher too often to be very satiny in the palm.
1911 C. Harris Eve's Second Husband 196 Once you..become the noble churn-dasher of the multitude.
churn-drill n. (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1874 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Churn-drill, a large drill used by miners. It is several feet long, and has a chisel point at each end.
churnful n. as much as a churn holds.
churn-getting n. dialect = churn-supper n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > meal > feast > [noun] > harvest-home feast
kirn1777
kirn-supper1777
maiden feast1797
churn-supper1801
kirn-feast1846
hay-home supper1860
churn-getting1866
1866 E. Waugh Ben an' th' Bantam vi. 118 On their way home from a churn-gettin'—as the hay-harvest supper is called.
churn-supper n. (= kirn-supper n. at kirn n.2 Compounds 2, kirn n.1 1 a churn, being identified with kirn n.2 1 a harvest-home), a supper given at a harvest-home.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > meal > feast > [noun] > harvest-home feast
kirn1777
kirn-supper1777
maiden feast1797
churn-supper1801
kirn-feast1846
hay-home supper1860
churn-getting1866
1801 J. Strutt Sports & Pastimes iv. iii. 272 The harvest-supper in some places is called a mell-supper, and a churn-supper.
1870 W. C. Hazlitt Brand's Pop. Antiq. Great Brit. (rev. ed.) II. 18 Aram asserted that it was called the Churn Supper, because, from immemorial times, it was customary to produce in a Churn a great quantity of cream and to circulate it in cups to each of the rustic company.
1875 Lanc. Gloss. (E.D.S.) Churn-supper, an evening feast to celebrate the close of the hay harvest.
Draft additions September 2003
Business (originally U.S.). Change to a customer base; esp. a large and rapid loss (and replacement) of subscribers to a particular service. Also: turnover or reorganization of employees. Cf. churn rate n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > lack of work > [noun] > action or fact of vacating office > resigning or laying down office > proportion who leave work
labour turnover1915
quit rate1926
turn-over1955
churn1977
1977 Business Week 21 Nov. 158/2 The problem of customer turnover, or ‘churn’, is substantial in this business [sc. the cable television industry].
1982 Fortune (Nexis) 8 Mar. 109 In the estimate of some outplacement counselors, the most common harbinger of churn in the executive ranks, leaving aside the effects of business, is the arrival of a new boss.
1997 J. Hagel & A. G. Armstrong Net.gain iii. 50 The member loyalty dynamic loop..highlights the role of key variables in driving membership churn..and usage rates.
2000 Independent 17 Apr. (Review section) 10/6 Once people realise how much better and cheaper the offers are, BT is going to experience churn like never before.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
churnv.
/tʃəːn/, U.S. /tʃərn/ 1. figurative.1641 J. Jackson True Evangelical Temper i. 7 It is a safe rule in the partition of Holy Scripture, not to churne the sincere milk thereof till butter come.
a. transitive. To agitate milk or cream in a churn so as to make butter; to produce butter thus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation of dairy produce > [verb (transitive)] > make butter
churnc1440
kirn15..
fetch1844
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 76 Chyrne botyr, cumo.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 483/2 I cherne butter, je bas le beurre.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Prov. xxx. C Who so chyrneth mylck, maketh butter.
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique i. xiv. 90 To make this butter, she shall beate or cherne it a great while in vessels made for the purpose.
1605 T. Tymme tr. J. Du Chesne Pract. Chymicall & Hermeticall Physicke i. vii. 33 The experience of charming and working simple milke.
1615 G. Markham Eng. House-wife (1649) 196 Your creame being neatly and sweet kept, you shall churme or churne it.
1755 J. Wesley Primitive Physick (ed. 5) 45 Take no Food but new Butter Milk, churn'd in a Bottle.
1886 Pall Mall Gaz. 21 Sept. In Normandy..the farmer..churns his cream every day.
b. intransitive. To work a churn, make butter.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation of dairy produce > [verb (intransitive)] > make butter
churn1584
1584 R. Scot Discouerie Witchcraft i. iv. 11 There will neuer come anie butter, chearne as long as you list.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream ii. i. 37 And bootlesse make the breathlesse huswife cherne . View more context for this quotation
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxii Putting his countess into the dairy to churn and to make cheeses.
2.
a. To agitate, stir, and intermix any liquid, or mixture of liquid and solid matter; to produce (froth, etc.) by this process. to churn one's way; to advance by churning up (the sea, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > irregular movement or agitation > agitate [verb (transitive)] > agitate or stir
churn1697
kirn1822
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis vii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 419 Churning bloody Foam.
1725 W. Broome in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey III. xii. 307 The flesh trembles while she churns the blood.
1837 T. Campbell Dead Eagle in Poems (new ed.) 65 Winds churn'd white the waves.
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. (1856) xxiv. 196 The sea seemed to be churning ice.
1873 W. Black Princess of Thule ii. 20 All last night churning our way up to Loch Gair..and for what?
1880 R. Browning Pan & Luna in Dramatic Idyls 58 Lost in the thin foam Churned on a sea-shore.
b. intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > irregular movement or agitation > move irregularly or be agitated [verb (intransitive)] > be agitated or stirred
roll1667
churn1735
1735 W. Somervile Chace iv. 223 Like some angry Boar Churning he foams.
1810 A. Wilson Foresters in Port Folio III. 179 The deep bilgewater churn'd and roar'd below.
1865 D. Livingstone & C. Livingstone Narr. Exped. Zambesi xxii. 452 Each with his powerful tail causing the water to churn and froth.
3. to churn out: figurative (used esp. of writing etc., of great volume and unimpressive quality): to produce ‘mechanically’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > [verb (transitive)] > produce or bring forth > with ease, speed, or success, or in large quantities
whip1611
to work off1653
to hit off1700
dispatchc1710
to throw off1724
to run off1759
to turn off1825
to turn out1847
to run out1872
to churn out1912
proliferate1912
slug1925
whomp1955
gurgitate1963
1912 R. Brooke Let. Apr.–May (1968) 377 Occasional calls on Dudley, who is always churning out things on his typewriter.
1939 ‘G. Orwell’ Coming up for Air iii. i. 179 You know the line of talk. These chaps can churn it out by the hour. Just like a gramophone.
1952 Sat. Rev. (U.S.) 25 Oct. Nor is there any doubt at all that ‘Limelight’ is preferable to the vast majority of pictures churned out by Hollywood each year.
1963 Times 6 Mar. 15/3 The churning out of literature from the office they run which does nothing but cause bitterness between us.
1966 Listener 17 Mar. 393/1 Many painters at that age are content to..churn out tired replicas of the glories of their youth.
Derivatives
churned adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation of dairy produce > [adjective] > churned
churned1725
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > irregular movement or agitation > [adjective] > agitating, stirring, or mixing
churning1694
perturbatory1846
churned1878
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Mixing in body A Quart of churn'd Milk.
1878 W. Black Green Pastures xxxiii. 263 Here was no churned chalk.
churner n. one who churns; also, a churning-machine.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation of dairy produce > [noun] > churning butter > churn
churnc1000
kirn1338
butter churn1577
churning-tub1580
barrel-churn1741
plunge churn1793
box churn1810
table churn1828
dash-churn1865
churner1888
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation of dairy produce > [noun] > churning butter > butter-maker
butterman1296
butter wife?1542
butter-woman1612
churner1888
butter maker2016
1888 Punch 20 Oct. 182/3 You've been to the Dairy Show, Sir, have you not?.. Those churners competitive were a sweet lot.
1894 Westm. Gaz. 25 Apr. 2/1 A big Bradford churner..and..a Danish ‘separating’ machine.
1927 T. Woodhouse Artificial Silk: Manuf. & Uses 54 The contents of the maturing tins are placed into a sulphide kneader or churner.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
n.c1000
v.c1440