▪ I. churn, n.
(tʃɜːn)
Forms: 1 cyrin, 5 kyrne, (scharne), 5–6 chyrne, 6 chirne, charne, 5–7 cherne, chearme, 7 churm(e (still a dial. pronunciation), 6– churn. North. dial. kirn q.v.
[OE. cyrin str. fem. for *cirn, *ciern, a Common Teutonic word; cf. MLG., MG. kirne, kerne, Ger. dial. kirn, kern, L.G. karne, karn, MDu. kerne, karne, Du. karn; ON. kirna (Da. kjærne, Sw. kärna), wk. fem., also kjarna- in comb.
The alleged OE. ceren is an error of Junius in Lye, carelessly repeated in Dictionaries since. The actual forms point to various types, kernâ-, kirnjâ, kernôn-, kirnjôn-. On the whole the strong forms appear to be WGer., the first being represented by Du. and Ger. kerne, karn(e, the second by Ger. kirn(e and OE. *cirn, *ciern, cyrin. The weak forms appear to be Scandinavian, ON. kjarna-, and the Du., Sw., and Da. pointing to kernôn, Icel. kirna to kirnjôn-. The ulterior etymology of kirn- is uncertain, but see Hildebrand in Grimm s.v. Kernen 3 c; it is not related to cwern-, quern- mill.]
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.
| c 1000 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 280/32 Sinum, cyrin. c 1425 ibid. 666/12 Hec antipera, kyrne. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 76 Chyrne, vesselle, cimbia, cumbia. c 1475 Pict. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 793/21 Hoc valatorium, a scharne. 1485 Inv. in Ripon Ch. Acts 371, j cherne. 1570 Levins Manip. 81/36 A cherne, fidelia. Ibid. 191/12 A churne. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 146 b, A vessell rather deepe than big, round and Cilinder fashion: although in some places they have other kinde of Charmes low and flat, wherin..they so shake the milke. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Baratte, a charning tub, or charne. a 1648 Digby Closet Open. (1677) 112 If you put these clouts into a churn with other cream. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. 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 Leicestersh. Gloss. (E.D.S.), Churm, sb. and v., var. pron. of ‘churn’. |
2. Extended to other vessels or instruments with some resemblance to the
prec.,
e.g. a kind of pump used in mines, the block or chuck on a porcelain-turner's lathe, a milkcan (
orig. one shaped like the upright churn), etc.
| 1747 Hooson Miner's Dict. 2 ij, Common Pumps used in the Mines, such as Raggs, Churns, Sweaps, Forces, for drawing of Water. |
3. A local popular name of the Daffodil.
| 1875 Lanc. Gloss. (E.D.S.). |
4. [from the
vb.] Churning (of water, etc.).
| a 1882 Rossetti Ball. & Sonnets, White Ship, Out of the churn of the choking ship. |
5. attrib. and in
Comb., as
churn-maid,
churn-power,
churn-shaped,
churn-works;
churn-boot, a large boot, supposed to resemble the upright churn;
churn-dash,
-dasher, the appliance for agitating the milk in the churn;
churn-drill (see
quot.);
churnful, as much as a churn holds;
churn-getting dial.,
= next;
churn-supper (
= kirn-supper,
kirn, a churn, being identified with
kirn, a harvest-home), a supper given at a harvest-home. See also
churn-milk,
churn-staff.
| 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. (1858) 28 The military classes in those old times, whose buff-belts, complicated chains and gorgets, huge *churn-boots..have been bepainted in modern Romance. |
| 1860 Tyndall Glac. 25 A little water-wheel.. communicated motion to a *churndash which made the butter. 1877 N.W. Lincolnsh. Gloss. (E.D.S.), Churn⁓dash, the machinery in the interior of a churn. |
| 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. |
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech., *Churn-drill, a large drill used by miners. It is several feet long, and has a chisel point at each end. |
| 1866 Waugh Ben an' th' Bantam vi. 118 On their way home from a *churn-gettin'—as the hay-harvest supper is called. |
| 1879 Natal Mag. IV. 307, I was not..caught by *churn-maids or promiscuous spectators a second time. |
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech., *Churn-power, a motor for driving churns or churn-dashers to agitate the milk or cream. |
| 1801 Strutt Sports & Past. iv. (1876) 468 The Harvest-supper in some places is called a Mell-supper and a *Churn-supper. 1870 Brand's Antiq. (ed. Hazlitt) 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. |
| 1877 N.W. Lincolnsh. Gloss. (E.D.S.), Churn-dash or *Churn-works. |
▸
Business (
orig. 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.| 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. (Rev. section) 10/6 Once people realise how much better and cheaper the offers are, BT is going to experience churn like never before. |
▪ II. churn, v. (
tʃɜːn)
For forms see
n.: also 6
chearn, 7
cherm,
charm.
[f. prec. n. Not recorded in OE., but cf. MG. kirnen, kernen, so Ger. dial., also karnen, Du. karnen, Da. kjerne, Sw. kärna, all in same sense.] 1. a. trans. To agitate
milk or
cream in a churn so as to make butter; to produce
butter thus.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 76 Chyrne botyr, cumo. 1530 Palsgr. 483/2, I cherne butter, je bas le beurre. 1535 Coverdale Prov. xxx. 33 Who so chyrneth mylck, maketh butter. 1605 Timme Quersit. i. vii. 33 The experience of charming and working simple milke. 1615 Markham Eng. Housew. (1649) 196 Your creame being neatly and sweet kept, you shall churme or churne it. 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Country Farme 65 To make this Butter, shee shall beat or cherne it a great while in Vessels made for the purpose. 1747 Wesley Prim. Physick (1762), New Butter Milk, churned in a bottle. 1886 Pall Mall G. 21 Sept., In Normandy..the farmer..churns his cream every day. |
| fig. 1641 J. Jackson True Evang. T. i. 7 It is a safe rule in the partition of Holy Scripture, not to churne the sincere milk thereof till butter come. |
b. intr. To work a churn, make butter.
| 1584 R. Scot Discov. Witcher. i. v. 8 There will never come anie butter, chearne as long as you list. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. ii. i. 37 And bootlesse make the breathlesse huswife cherne. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxii (L.), 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.).
| 1697 Dryden æneid vii. 633 Churning bloody Foam. 1725 Pope Odyss. xii. 307 The flesh trembles while she churns the blood. 18.. Campbell Poems, Dead Eagle 65 Winds churn'd white the waves. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xxiv. (1856) 196 The sea seemed to be churning ice. 1873 Black Pr. Thule ii. 13 All last night churning our way up to Loch Gair. 1880 Browning Dram. Idylls ii. Pan & Luna 58 Lost in the thin foam Churned on a sea-shore. |
b. intr.| 1735 Somerville Chase iv. 223 Like some angry Boar Churning he foams. a 1813 A. Wilson Foresters Poet. Wks. (1846) 267 The deep bilge water churned and roared below. 1865 Livingstone Zambesi xxii. 452 Each with his powerful tail causing the water to churn and froth. |
3. to churn out fig. (used
esp. of writing, etc., of great volume and unimpressive quality): to produce ‘mechanically’.
| 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. 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. |
churned ppl. a.;
churner, one who churns; also, a churning-machine.
| 1725 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Mixing in body, A Quart of churn'd Milk. 1878 Black Green Past. xxxiii. 263 Here was no churned chalk. 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 54 The contents of the maturing tins are placed into a sulphide kneader or churner. |