▪ I. corny, a.1
(ˈkɔːnɪ)
[f. corn n.1 + -y1.]
1. Of or pertaining to corn. a. when growing or cut.
| 1580 C'tess Pembroke Ps. lxxiv. xvi, The summers corny crowne. 1595 Markham Sir R. Grinvile ii, The earth..Boasting his cornie mantle stird with aire. 1625 Lisle Du Bartas 14 (T.) [The rain] downward gan to rave, And drown'd the corny ranks. 1667 Milton P.L. vii. 321 Up stood the cornie Reed Embattel'd in her field. 1805 Poet. Reg. 179 Yon turkies perching on the corny pile. |
b. as grain or meal.
| 1855 Singleton Virgil II. 166 [They] wheaten cakes Along the grass place underneath the feast..And with wild fruits the corny board enrich. 1881 Times 13 May 4/1 The corny fragrance of meal and flour. |
c. colloq. Of such a type as appeals to country-folk; rustic or unsophisticated; tiresomely or ridiculously old-fashioned or sentimental; hackneyed, trite; inferior. Cf. corn n.1 3 c, corniness.
| 1932 Melody Maker June 511/1 The ‘bounce’ of the brass section..has degenerated into a definitely ‘corny’ and staccato style of playing. 1935, 1937 [see corn-fed c]. 1937 M. Allingham Dancers in Mourning ii. 31 She..began to play a melody which..had been popular in the early post-war days... ‘Corny old stuff,’ said Mercer. 1944 Brahms & Simon Titania has a Mother iii. 26 He wondered what corny gag old Abey had thought up this time. 1946 [see corn n.1 3 c]. 1951 Auden Nones (1952) 43 Grown insolent and fat On cheesy literature And corny dramas. 1957 Listener 20 June 993/2 The Walker Art Gallery houses some of the corniest Victorian and Edwardian masterpieces. 1958 E. H. Clements Uncommon Cold ii. 44 My affections are, to use a corny phrase, ‘otherwise engaged’. |
† 2. Of ale: ? Tasting strong of the corn or malt. Obs. or dial.
| c 1386 Chaucer Pard. Pream. 29 A draughte of moyste and corny ale. Ibid. Prol. & T. 128 Now haue I dronke a draughte of corny ale. 15.. Christmas Carols (Percy Soc.) 47 A draught Of cornie aile, Nappy and staile. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Corny, tasting well of malt. ‘The ale is corny’. |
3. a. Producing corn; abounding in (growing) corn.
| 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Pais de blairie, a corney country. 1825–79 Jamieson s.v., ‘The last was a corny year’. 1865 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xvii. iv, Seize Saxony..and in that rich corny Country form Magazines. |
b. Abounding in grains of corn.
| 1687 Dryden Hind & P. iii. 959 By their high Crops, and Corny Gizzards known. 1718 Prior Solomon i. 154 The ant..bringing home the corny ear. 1826 Blackw. Mag. XIX. 250 A cloud of pigeons often descends among the corny chaff. |
4. Intoxicated, tipsy; = corned. dial.
| a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Corny, tipsey. 1863 Robson Bards of Tyne 25 Yen day when aw was corney. |
5. Comb., as corny-faced (see quot.).
| a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Corny-fac'd, a very Red or Blue pimpled Phiz. |
▪ II. † ˈcorny, a.2 Obs. rare.
[f. F. corne or L. cornu horn + -y1: cf. L. corneus horny.]
Hard as horn, horny.
(First quot. is doubtful.)
| ? 15.. Pathway to Health fol. 53 (N.) Also Ipocras saith, that a woman being conceived with a man-child is ruddy, and her right side is corny about, but if she bee conceived with a maid child, she is blacke, and her left pap is corny about. 1755 Johnson, Corny..strong or hard like horn; horny. |
▪ III. corny, a.3
(ˈkɔːnɪ)
[f. corn n.2 + -y1.]
Having corns on the feet; pertaining to corns.
| 1707 E. Ward Hud. Rediv. (1715) I. iv, I had not long, in open Street, Been punishing my Corny Feet. Ibid. II. vi, The Crasy, Gouty, and the Corny. 1821 Blackw. Mag. IX. 567 Offending the corny sensibilities of their friends. |