CHURN (Saxon cierne), a machine for separating the oily parts of milk or cream from the caseous and serous parts, to make butter. (See DAIRY.) The common churn is a vessel in the shape of the frustrum of a cone, in which the milk is agitated by means of a perforated circular board attached to a long rod, which is worked up and down through an orifice in the lid of the vessel; or several such boards are arranged around a horizontal spindle, one end of which is made to pass through the side of the vessel, and attached to a handle. In some churns the agitation of the milk is increased by a double apparatus acting in contrary directions. The construction of churns however varies greatly.