corker
(ˈkɔːkə(r))
[f. cork n.1 + -er1.]
† 1. a. ? A cork-cutter. Obs.
| 1723 Lond. Gaz. No. 6172/11 John Ping..Corker. |
b. One who corks; one who provides a bottle with a cork.
| 1881 Instr. Census Clerks (1885) 58 Blacking Manufacture: Liquid: Bottlers... Cooper. Corker. 1921 Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §459 Corker; cork fitter; drives corks into bottles filled with beer, mineral waters, etc., by hand, or by machine which he feeds with corks. |
2. a. slang. Something that closes a discussion, or puts an end to any matter; a ‘settler’; a thing that one cannot get over. Hence, something very striking or astonishing, e.g. a monstrous lie. (Cf. caulker 4.)
| 1837 Haliburton Clockm. Ser. i. xix. (Farmer), Then I lets him have it..jist three corkers. 1873 Slang Dict., Corker, ‘that's a corker’, i.e. that settles the question, or closes the discussion. 1889 The Voice (N.Y.) 5 Dec., ‘It's a corker. If it [a proposed law] passes we'll have to quit.’ |
b. A person or thing of surpassing size or excellence; a stunner; also used ironically. colloq. and dial.
| 1882 Cornhill Mag. 325 We look over our boat-side and see the big ‘corkers’ rising up out of the marl and sand in which their roots lie buried. a 1889 in Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang s.v., Jake Kilrain is a corker, and ought to have the championship of the world. 1903 Westm. Gaz. 7 Sept. 2/3 The chairman,..in proposing his health, is reported to have said, ‘Sir Thomas, you're a corker.’ 1904 ‘O. Henry’ Cabbages & Kings xiv. 226 By heavens! that dictator chap is a corker! He's a dictator clear down to his finger-ends. 1909 H. G. Wells Tono-Bungay i. iii. 75 Had her cry, of course... But now—buoyant again!.. She's a Corker. 1924 D. H. Lawrence & Skinner Boy in Bush i. 16 ‘You're a corker!’ said Mr George, shaking his head with new misgiving. 1930 R. Lehmann Note in Music iv. 179 Frightfully nice, though. So was the old lady. She was a corker. 1936 Wodehouse Laughing Gas ii. 25 ‘You really enjoy watching fights?’ ‘I know what you mean,’ I said. ‘Nine times out of ten they're absolute washouts, of course. But this one was a corker.’ 1937 N. Marsh Vintage Murder xiv. 158 ‘You're a corker, you are,’ said Wade hotly. 1969 R. D. Abrahams Jump-Rope Rhymes 132 My girl's a corker. |
c. Used attrib. or as adj. Fine, splendid, enjoyable, stunning. N.Z. colloq.
| 1937 N. Marsh Vintage Murder vii. 72 He talks with a corker sort of voice. Not queeny, but just corker. 1947 ‘A. P. Gaskell’ Big Game 30 It's a corker wee place. 1948 D. W. Ballantyne Cunninghams (1963) i. ix. 50 The kids told Syd what a corker sixer it had been. |