pirn

[ purn, pirn ]

noun

, British Dialect.

1. a weaver's bobbin, spool, or reel.
2. a fishing reel.

pirn

/ pɪrn; pɜːn /

noun

1. a reel or bobbin
2. (in weaving) the spool of a shuttle
3. a fishing reel

Word History and Origins

Origin of pirn¹

1400–50; late Middle English pyrne < ?

Word History and Origins

Origin of pirn¹

C15: of uncertain origin

Example Sentences

Pirn, pirn, n. anything that revolves or twists: a reel, bobbin, &c.: the amount of thread wound on a shuttle or reel.

From Project Gutenberg

"Ay, and the thread still on the pirn."

From Project Gutenberg

"And you've forgotten the pirn scrape?"

From Project Gutenberg

Fathom after fathom goes reeling from your pirn, but still you are barely able to drop the far fly into the distant curl.

From Project Gutenberg

An industrious house too, wherein the birr of the wheel and the sneck of the reel had sounded: the pirn was half filled, and the wisp, from which the thread had been drawn, lay over the back of a chair, as it had been taken from the waist of the servant maid.

From Project Gutenberg