different between quirt vs quirn

English

Etymology

From Spanish cuerda (“cord”), or Mexican Spanish cuarta (“whip”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /kw??t/
• (US) IPA^(key): /kw?t/
• Rhymes: -??(?)t

Noun

quirt (plural quirts)

1. A rawhide whip plaited with two thongs of buffalo hide.
   • about 1900, O. Henry, Hygeia at the Solito

     He sprang into the saddle easily as a bird, got the quirt from the horn, and gave his pony a slash with it.

   • He paused a moment and flicked a sage-brush with his quirt.

   • 1920, Peter B. Kyne, The Understanding Heart, Chapter I:

     […] when the young man whirled his horse, “hazed” Jupiter in circles and belaboured him with a rawhide quirt, […] He ceased his cavortings […]

   • 1973, Kyril Bonfiglioli, Don't Point That Thing at Me, Penguin (2001), page 96:

     She raised the handle of her beautiful quirt to her eyes and scanned the Western horizon.

   • 1994, Cormac McCarthy, The Crossing:

     He rode his horse with the reins tied and he wore a pistol at his belt and a plain flatcrowned hat of a type no longer much seen in that country and he wore tooled boots to his knees and carried a quirt.

Translations

Verb

quirt (third-person singular simple present quirts, present participle quirting, simple past and past participle quirted)

1. To strike with a quirt.

Synonyms

• (to whip or scourge): Thesaurus:whip

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kw??(?)n/
• Rhymes: -??(?)n

Noun

quirn (plural quirns)

1. Alternative spelling of quern

Quotations

• "And grind it without quirn or mill." extracted from the Elfin Knight.

References

• http://www.hydroponicsearch.com/spelling/simplesearch/query_term-quern/database-gcide/strategy-exact (Saturday September 1, 2007)
• http://www.springthyme.co.uk/ballads/balladtexts/02_ElfinKnight.html (Saturday September 1, 2007)