▪ I. corner, n.1
(ˈkɔːnə(r))
Forms: 4 querner, quarner(e, 4–5 cornere, cornyer(e, 5 cornare, korner, 6 cornar, 3– corner.
[ME. corner, a. AF. corner = OF. cornier masc., corniere, cornere fem.:—late L. type *cornārium, pl. *cornāria, f. cornū horn: in med.L. cornerium, corneria.]
I. generally.
1. a. The meeting-place of converging sides or edges (e.g. of the walls of a building, the sides of a box), forming an angular extremity or projection.
| [1292 Britton i. xxiii. §14 Un escu a iiii. corners.] a 1300 Cursor M. 21663 (Cott.) O four corner [v.r. querner, quarnere] þe arche was made. 1340 Ayenb. 124 Þe uour tours ine þe uour cornyeres of þe house. 1382 Wyclif Ps. cxvii[i]. 22 The..hed of the corner. c 1450 Mirour Saluacioun 227 Sett vp the cornare of the wall. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxv. 202 The iiij cornyers of the table. ? a 1500 Langforde Med. fol. 2 b in Lay Folks' Mass-Bk. 179 After to go to þe Ryght cornar of þe Avter And þen after to goo to þe Lefte end of the Avter. 1530 Palsgr. 209/1 Corner of the eye, coing doeyl. 1632 Lithgow Trav. ix. (1682) 367 An Isle [Sicily] with corners three. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) III. 91 The corners of the mouth. 1842 Tennyson Will Waterproof 236 Long, ere the hateful crow shall tread The corners of thine eyes. 1860 Tyndall Glaciers ii. x. 279 The corner of a window. |
† b. An angle (in Geometry).
Obs.| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. vii. (1495) 113 A corner is the towche and metynge of two lynes. 1551 Recorde Pathw. Knowl. i. def., The square angle, whiche is commonly named a right corner. |
c. fig. (
Cf. angle n. 6,
quot. 1850.)
| 1766 Fordyce Serm. Yng. Wom. (ed. 4) I. i. 22 Such society..rubs off the corners that give many of our sex an ungracious roughness. 1841–4 Emerson Ess., Manners Wks. (Bohn) I. 213 Fashion..hates corners and sharp points of character. |
† d. corner of the people: a prince or chief, a ‘corner-stone of the state’. (A Hebraism.)
| 1382 Wyclif Judg. xx. 2 Alle the corneres of puplis [Vulg. anguli populorum] and alle the lynages of Yrael. ― 1 Sam. xiv. 38 Aplieth hidir all the corners of the puple. 1560 Bible (Genev.) Isa. xix. 13 They haue deceiued Egypt, euen the corners of the tribes thereof [1609 Douay, the corner of the peoples thereof]. |
e. within the four corners of (a document): (emphatic for) within the limits or scope of its contents.
| 1874 Morley Compromise (1886) 37 The spirit of the Church is eternally entombed within the four corners of acts of parliament. |
II. A salient or projecting angle.
2. a. The place where two streets meet.
| 1382 Wyclif Matt. vi. 5 As ypocritis, the whiche stondynge louen to preye in..corners of streetis, that thei be seen of men. 1391 Mem. Ripon (1882) I. 150 In Annesgate super le Corner ibidem. 1475 in Ripon Ch. Acts 246 Super angulum vocatum Skelgate corner. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iv. vii. 145 With these borne before vs..will we ride through the streets, & at euery Corner haue them kisse. 1611 Bible Prov. vii. 12 Now is shee without, now in the streetes, and lieth in waite at euery corner. 1879 M. E. Braddon Clov. Foot xvi, At the corner of Long Acre. |
b. to turn the corner: to pass round a corner into another road, street, etc.; to pass round the corner of a race-course,
esp. the last corner before the finish;
fig. to pass a critical point or stage, to start recovering from an illness. So also
to go or come round the corner.
to cut off a corner: to take a short cut, so as not to go round a corner.
Colloq. phr. (a)round the corner: (
a) nearby; a short distance away; (
b) at hand; about to occur or be realized; imminent.
| 1687 Congreve Old Bach. i. v, I see he has turned the corner, and goes another way. 1796 Pegge Anonym. (1809) 375 That expression which I heard in the country..He has turn'd the corner, i.e. gone away, so as no more to be seen [= he is dead]. 1807 J. Johnson Orient. Voy. 54 They make most excellent drivers, and think nothing of turning short corners. 1837 Dickens Let. 28 Jan. (1965) I. 229, I hope to find on Monday at 12 o'Clock, that you have turned the corner, and come back again. 1837 ― Pickw. xxxi. 334 The ham..was also from the German sausage-shop round the corner. 1844 Dickens Mart. Chuz. ii, ‘You're round the corner now’, cried Miss Pecksniff. 1852 ― Bleak Ho. iii, We went round the corner. 1862 Trollope Orley F. I. 13 (Hoppe) Those trumpery presents were very well while he was struggling for bare bread, but now he had turned the corner he could afford, etc. 1863 L. M. Alcott Hospital Sk. v. 67 A secret conviction that pneumonia was waiting for me round the corner. 1872 Jenkinson Guide Eng. Lakes (1879) 189 Tourists, in their anxiety to cut off a corner, are sometimes induced to cross the valley. 1877 Blackmore Cripps xxxii, For the present this young man (although he certainly had turned the corner), lay still in a very precarious state. 1914 F. Hurst (title) Just around the corner. 1925 W. J. Locke Great Pandolfo vii. 89 It's more or less only round the corner; but I see that you're walked enough. 1930 ‘I. Hay’ & Wodehouse Baa, Baa, Black Sheep i. i. 12 You never know what's waiting for you just round the corner in this world! 1959 Times Rev. Industry Jan. 67/2 Polypropylene has for so many months been ‘just-round-the-corner’ that [etc.]. 1960 Willmott & Young Family & Class iii. 28 Couples..went on living ‘up the street’ or ‘round the corner’ from their parents. 1970 Guardian 15 Aug. 3/6 At the ‘self’ round the corner where I'd gone to buy soapflakes. |
c. Sporting slang.
the Corner: Tattersall's betting-rooms; formerly situated near Hyde Park Corner.
| 1848 Thackeray Bk. Snobs x, He is a regular attendant at the Corner. 1874 G. A. Lawrence Hagarene v. (Farmer), She heard how—without..making any demonstration at the Corner—the cream of the long odds against the Pirate had been skimmed. |
3. a. An angular extremity at the junction of the sides or edges of anything; an angular projection, as a point of land running out into the sea.
| a 1330 Otuel 1591 A corner of otuweles scheld He gurde out amidde þe feld. c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1185 A corner of þe cortyn he caȝt vp a lyttel. 1553 Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 32 He discouered a corner or poynt of the sayd mayne land. 1563 Fulke Meteors (1640) 54 b, The fashion of hayle is sometimes round..for falling from high, the corners are worne away. 1611 Bible Lev. xix. 27 Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou marre the corners of thy beard. 1712 E. Hatton Merch. Mag. 230 Creek..a crooked shoar, where two Corners of land extend themselves into the Sea at some small distance. 1752 Johnson Rambler No. 200 ¶7 Covered with a cloth, of which Prospero ordered his servant to lift up a corner. |
b. The angular projections (or projection) on each side of a violin or other similar stringed instrument. Also
corner-block.
| 1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 243/1 The Viol has..Square or obtuse corners... The Violin has..Acute corners. 1889 Grove Dict. Mus. IV. 275/1 These corners mark the position of triangular ‘blocks’ inside, to which the ribs..are glued... Corner-blocks..first appear in the 15th century. 1968 New Oxf. Hist. Music IV. xiii. 710 A majority of viols..have sloping shoulders, C-shaped sound-holes,..and square corners at the bouts. |
4. a. A corner piece broken off or remaining as a fragment.
| 1881 Leslie Nordenskiöld's Voy. Vega I. 304 Their stock of provisions consisted of..a sack of corners, and fragments of ship biscuits. |
b. The triangular piece cut from the ham or hind-end (the gammon) of a side of bacon.
| 1891 T. F. Garrett Encycl. Cookery I. 63/2 Gammon with Corner, 14 lb. Ibid., Corner of Gammon, 4 lb. 1917 G. J. Nicholls Bacon & Hams 59 The gammon may also be cut into two pieces—a large corner and a large gammon hock. 1923 R. E. Davies Pigs & Bacon Curing 29 The side may be cut into three parts, comprising the fore end, the middle, and the gammon with corner. |
III. A retreating hollow angle.
5. a. The comparatively small space included between sides or edges at their meeting-place;
esp. between the sides of a room or building.
to put in the corner,
lit. as a punishment for a child;
† to put to a corner, to set aside, displace from precedency.
| 1382 Wyclif Prov. xxv. 24 Betere is to sitte in a corner of a roof. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame iii. 1052, I herde a grete noyse with alle In a corner of the halle. 1447 O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 21 An huge dragoun..Sodeynly from a corner dede apere Of the presoun. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon liii. 179 To be mated in y⊇ corner [of the chessboard]. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iv. ii. 19 He keepes them like an Ape in the corner of his iaw. 1605 Bp. Hall Medit. & Vows i. §34 The heart of man is..so infinite in desire, that the round Globe of the world cannot fill the three corners of it. 1784 Cowper Task v. 27 The cattle mourn in corners where the fence Screens them. 17.. Foord Suppl. Dec. 464 (Jam.) After his father's decease, he entered in his dwelling house, and..put her to a corner. 1886 J. Payn Luck of Darrells xxxvii, He allowed himself to be metaphorically whipped and put in a corner. |
b. to drive into a corner: to force into a difficult position from which there is no escape; to drive into straits; to put in a ‘fix’ or in a ‘tight place’.
| [1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 121 All..carnall temptacyons..ben suppressed, and in maner dryuen to a corner.] 1548 Hall Chron. 47 To the intent that his armie should not bee included in a streight or driven to a corner. 1611 Cotgr., Angler, to shut vp in a corner, bring into a strait. 1861 Geo. Eliot Silas M. vii, ‘I don't want to act the constable’, said the farrier, driven into a corner by this merciless reasoning. 1869 Trollope He Knew xxxvi. (1878) 201 He had been driven into a corner by the pertinacious ingenuity of Miss French. |
c. tight corner: see
tight a. 9.
6. a. transf. A small, out-of-the-way, secluded place, that escapes notice or intrusion; ‘a secret or remote place’ (J.).
done in a corner: done privily or covertly.
hole and corner: see
hole.
| 1382 Wyclif Acts xxvi. 26 Forsoth nether in a corner is ouȝt of these thingis don. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 1640 Lokez the contree be clere, the corners are large. 1535 Coverdale Jer. ii. 34 Not in corners and holes only, but openly in all these places. 1538 Starkey England i. i., 6 Ryches hepyd in cornerys, neuer applyd to the vse of other. 1856 A. Day Eng. Secretary i. (1625) 44 There was..no brothel-house but he haunted, no odde corner but he knew. 1649 Bp. Hall Cases Consc. iv. viii. 475 Whatever private contract may be transacted in corners betwixt the parties. 1714 Pope Epil. Rowe's J. Shore 18 In some close corner of the soul, they sin. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) II. 199 The theory throws some degree of light upon a dark corner of the human mind. 1889 Jessopp Coming of Friars iii. 160 Such things were not done in a corner. |
b. fig.| 1836 J. Halley in Life (1842) 58, I have hit on a new plan of redeeming an odd corner of time. 1862 Stanley Jew. Ch. (1877) I. xiii. 258 Those quiet corners of history which are the green spots of all time. |
c. to keep a corner: to reserve a small place.
| 1514 Barclay Cyt. & Uplondyshm. (Percy Soc.) p. xlii, Softe man, and spare thou a corner of thy belly. 1604 Shakes. Oth. iii. iii. 272, I had rather be a Toad..Then keepe a corner in the thing I loue For others vses. 1713 Steele Englishman No. 48. 312 Malefactors..preserve as it were a Corner of their Souls for the reception of Pity. 1771 Goldsm. Haunch of Venison 100 ‘What the de'il, mon, a pasty!’ re-echoed the Scot; ‘Though splitting, I'll still keep a corner for that’. |
7. Any part whatsoever, even the smallest, most distant or secluded (as
no corner,
every corner).
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 131 b, It shall leaue no corner of our soules..vnserched. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 416 All mystes and fogges of ignoraunce, may be driven away out of all the corners of this kingdome. 1614 Bp. Hall Recoll. Treat. 821 All the world was theirs, scarce any corner ours. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 529 But first with narrow search I must walk round This Garden, and no corner leave unspi'd. a 1700 Dryden (J.), I turn'd, and try'd each corner of my bed, To find if sleep were there, but sleep was lost. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 219 There was no corner of the kingdom in which the effect was not felt. 1886 H. Conway Living or Dead xiv, My friend must have seen every nook and corner in the house. |
8. An extremity or end of the earth; a region, quarter; a direction or quarter from which the wind blows (
obs.).
| 1535 Coverdale Ps. xciv. 4 In his honde are all y⊇ corners of the earth. ― Isa. xi. 12 He shal..gather together..the outcastes of Iuda from the foure corners of y⊇ worlde. 1583 T. Stocker Civ. Warres Lowe C. ii. 64 a, The Souldiers helde a councell for their wages, whiche was promised them.. or els be brought into a better corner. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado ii. iii. 103 Sits the winde in that corner? 1611 ― Cymb. ii. iv. 28. 1651 Hobbes Lev. ii. xxvii. 155 In this corner of the world. 1654 Gayton Pleas. Notes ii. ii 39 Physitians from the four corners are called. 1691 Ray Creation i. (1704) 96 The Wind lying in that Corner at least three quarters of the Year. 1724 Swift Drapier's Lett. iv, We are perfectly safe from that Corner. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 18 We..were carried away with a continued storm of wind, from the same corner, or near it. 1870 Max Müller Sc. Relig. (1873) 159 We find the ancient worship of the Aryan race carried to all the corners of the earth. |
IV. Elliptical and technical uses.
9. A corner-dish for the table.
| 1824 S. E. Ferrier Inher. xiv, Silver tureens and corners. Ibid. xlvi, Her silver corners were very handsome. |
10. A cap or guard used to protect the corner of anything; the leather covering of the corner of a half-bound book.
11. Bookbinding. A triangular tool used in gold or blind tooling.
12. U.S. A mark placed at the angle of a tract which has been surveyed.
Cf. corner-tree in 16.
| 1699 in Derby (Conn.) Rec. (1901) 202 The southered corner is an ash tree. 1770 Washington Diaries (1925) I. 428, I marked two Maples, an Elm, and Hoopwood Tree as a Corner of the Soldiers Ld. 1816 U. Brown Jrnl. in Maryland Hist. Mag. XI. 221 If the old original white oak Corner cannot be found establish a Corner there in lieu and in place of said White Oak. 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 173 We have frequently heard the old surveyors along the Ohio say that they often met with his [Col. Crawford's] corners..Every tract of land blazed by a claimant..[is] defined by what the surveyors call the corners. |
13. Games.
a. Assoc. Football. (In full
corner-kick.) A free kick from the corner of the field obtained by the opposite side when a player sends the ball over his own goal-line.
| 1882 Blackburn Times 1 Apr. 6/3 Then the besiegers had another corner kick, which, like its predecessors, proved fruitless. 1887 Sporting Life 28 Mar. 4/5 Two corner kicks fell to them in quick succession. Ibid., Forty minutes from the start, a corner fell to the Preston men. 1888 Badminton Libr., Athletics 340 If a player kick the ball over his own goal line, the opposite side have a ‘corner-kick’. |
† b. Whist. (See
quot.)
| a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Corner, a point in a rubber at whist. We say we play sixpences or a shilling a corner, not sixpenny or shilling points. 1824 Scott St. Ronan's xxxix, If, on any extraordinary occasion, he ventured sixpence a corner at whist. |
c. four corners, a game: see
four.
d. Boxing. One of the two opposite angles of a boxing ring in which a boxer rests between rounds; hence, a boxer's second or seconds. Also
attrib.| 1853 London Prize-Ring Rules in T. C. Wignall Story of Boxing (1923) 312 The combatants..shall retire until the seconds of each have tossed for choice of position, which adjusted, the winner shall choose as his corner..and conduct his man thereto, the loser taking the opposite diagonal corner. 1888 F. W. J. Henning Recoll. Prize Ring 159 Both men were assisted to their corners by their seconds. 1889 G. B. Shaw London Music 1888–89 (1937) 278, I read some indignant articles on the unfairness of the Bruges prize fight... The corner-men were English. 1896 J. C. Trotter Boxing xv. 96 On first entering the ring, the combatants take a seat in their corners and wait till the timekeeper calls ‘Time’. 1952 L. A. G. Strong Darling Tom 145 My corner was getting a bit suspicious. |
e. Hockey. (In full
corner-hit.) A free hit against the defending side made by one of the attacking side from the corner flag.
| 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 518/2 A good goalkeeper..should never hesitate to concede a corner when he can see no other opening. 1907 Hockey 22 Nov. 22/1 Just before half-time, Mid-Surrey broke away, and, forcing a corner, Nash put in an excellent shot from the corner hit. Ibid., Before the end Simmonds scored from a penalty corner. 1935 Encycl. Sports 344/1 From a corner the attacking side can only score a goal after the ball has been stopped dead or hit after it has struck or been played by a defender. 1961 F. C. Avis Sportsman's Gloss. 215/2 In Hockey, a corner is registered where a player deliberately puts the ball over his own goal line, or where he accidentally does so from a distance shorter than 25 yards from the goal line. |
14. a. Comm. A speculative operation in which a combination or syndicate buy up the whole of any stock in the market, or the whole available supply of any commodity, so as to drive speculative sellers into a corner, by rendering them unable to fulfil their engagements except by buying of the combination of corner-men at their own price. Also
fig. (Of
U.S. origin.)
Sometimes applied to any combination to raise the price of an article by securing a monopoly; this is a development in which the primary meaning is lost sight of.
| 1853 Captain Priest 249 (Th.), He is the greatest of all men for a ‘corner’. 1857 Hunt's Merch. Mag. (N.Y.) July XXXVII. 135 When a party is made up to buy a large amount of stock, a larger..than is known to be at the time on the market, it is called a corner..Having inflated the market..they make a sudden call for several thousand shares of stock on their buyer's option, and then there comes a sharp time among the sellers, who are generally all short. This creates an active demand, and the clique sell their cash stock to the bears or shorts, who purchase at high rates for delivery at much lower prices to the very parties selling it. 1868 Chicago Tribune 1 Oct., The Corner of Corn. 1877 R. Giffen Stock Exch. Securities 49 A ‘corner’..is a Counter-rig to which a rig for the fall is liable. 1881 Daily News 14 Sept. 2/6 The league of spinners now being formed in Manchester and Oldham to check-mate the Liverpool ‘corner’. 1883 The American VI. 164 ‘Corners’ in railroad stocks or iron rails. 1889 Sat. Rev. 5 Oct. 377 The cotton corner in Liverpool..collapsed on Monday last. 1947 Time 27 Oct. 106/2 One of his exploits was the ‘Hale & Norcross corner’ in 1868, by which he got control of an important mine. 1949 Times 17 Nov., To make a corner in something is monopolistic, unethical and ill-bred. 1965 Language XII. 200 The followers of Chomsky have no corner on nastiness. |
b. dial. and
slang. A share;
esp. (
a) in
dial. phr. to stand one's corner: to take or pay for one's share of anything; to do one's share; (
b)
slang, a share in the proceeds of a robbery.
| 1878 J. Almond Bunch of Watercresses 21 Tom looked at his shirt to see iv id could be doctored..into doing duty for some o' th' missing articles..but he fun id wer hardly able to stan id own corner. 1889 Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang I. 273/1 Corner, (Thieves), a share—generally a share in the proceeds of a robbery. 1891 Standard 5 Mar. 2/5 (E.D.D.), He had arranged to meet the other two men to receive his ‘corner’ (the proceeds of the sale of the stolen property). 1930 E. Wallace White Face xix. 279 He supplied the various gangs [of bank-robbers] with information which enabled them to operate at a minimum risk. Usually he stood in for his corner. 1969 D. Clark Death after Evensong v. 129 Just in time to join in a buckshee last round with no chance of standing his own corner. |
15. attrib. and
Comb. a. lit. (‘situated in or at a corner’), as
corner-cupboard,
corner-gate,
corner-house,
corner-pew,
corner-piece,
† corner-port (
= gate),
corner-seat (also
fig.),
corner-shelf,
corner-table, etc.
| 1851 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. II. 147 In each cell I saw a pretty little corner cupboard. 1711 Post-Man & Hist. Account 8 Mar. 2/1 A Dutch Tablemaker..sells all sorts of..Tea Tables, Corner Cupboards and all manner of Japan Work. |
| 1611 Bible 2 Kings xiv. 13 From the gate of Ephraim, vnto the corner gate. |
| 1687 Congreve Old Bach. v. xi, Walk to that corner-house. 1886 Besant Childr. Gibeon ii. x, He..stopped at a corner house. |
| 1663 Pepys Diary 3 May, Young Dawes, that sits in the new corner-pew in the church. |
| 1535 Coverdale 2 Chron. xxvi. 9 And Osias buylded towres at Ierusalem vpon the cornerporte. |
| 1601 Holland Pliny I. 198 They make of yuory the very principals and corner posts of their houses. |
| 1852 Illustr. Lond. News 17 Jan. 51/3 The two corner seats at the top of the interior [of an omnibus]. 1894 J. T. Taylor Veil Lifted 31 His thoughts had been..concentrated upon..securing a corner seat in a smoking carriage. 1940 L. Macneice Last Ditch 21 Opposite in corner seats we hope for nearness. 1959 J. Braine Vodi x. 143 They had booked first-class corner seats to death, all of them. |
| 1805 Jane Austen Let. 27 Aug. (1932) I. 165 Nor need I be diffuse on the state of Lady Brydges's bookcase and corner-shelves upstairs. 1889 ‘C. E. Craddock’ Broomsedge Cove xxii. 395 The quilts..were piled high on the ‘corner shelf’ which they had burdened of yore. |
| 1924 M. Arlen Green Hat iv. 110 Nearby was a corner-table of eight young people. 1956 E. Grierson Second Man i. 32 The secluded corner table with the shaded lights. |
b. fig. (Chiefly with meaning ‘done in a corner’: see 6), as
corner-contract,
corner-meeting, etc.
| 1580 Sidney Arcadia iii. 350 Casting a kinde of corner-look upon him. 1585 Abp. Sandys Serm. (1841) 50 These corner contracts, without consent of parents. 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. Pref. §8 (1632) 38 They had their secret corner-meetings. 1619 W. Whately Gods Husb. ii. (1622) 44 Drag this corner-seeking..vice into the open view. 1651 J. F[reake] Agrippa's Occ. Philos. 165 With corner-whisperings from house to house. a 1670 Hacket Abp. Williams i. (1692) 134 Our corner-miching priests. |
16. Special
Comb.:
corner-back: in certain field sports (
esp. Amer. Football), (one playing in) a defensive position on the wing;
corner-block (see
quots.); (see also 3 b above);
corner-boy (
esp. in Ireland)
= corner-man 2;
corner-chisel, a chisel with two rectangular edges for cutting the corners of mortises;
corner-cove (
slang)
= corner-man 2;
corner-cutting vbl. n. and ppl. a., taking the quickest, easiest, cheapest, or most expedient course of action (see
cut v. 21 d);
corner-dish, a dish for the corner of the table;
corner-drill, a drill used in places where there is not room to use the ordinary brace-handle;
corner flag, a flag marking a corner of the playing area of a football or hockey field; so
corner-flag kick, a corner (sense 13);
corner-flag v. intr., to run towards a corner flag;
corner-forward Hurling, (one playing in) an attacking position on the wing; an outside forward;
corner-grocery U.S., a grocery, or a bar-room, situated at a street corner;
corner-hit (see 13 e);
corner-house, (
a) (see sense 15 a); (
b) (with capital initials) one of a number of large restaurants in London owned by J. Lyons and Co., Ltd.;
corner-kick (see 13);
corner-lot (
U.S.), a plot of ground (with its block of buildings) at the corner of two streets or roads, having a frontage to each;
corner-mark U.S., a boundary-mark at a corner of a property; so
corner-post,
corner-stake (also
fig.);
† corner-pie, ? a pie for the corner of the table;
corner-piece, a piece (casting, tool, etc.) for strengthening or dealing with corners;
corner pillar (
Coach-building): see
quot.;
corner-plate, an iron angle-plate for protecting or strengthening the corners of anything;
corner-punch, an angular punch for cleaning out corners;
corner-saw, a saw for cutting off the corners of a block;
corner shop, a shop at the corner of a street; hence, a small local shop (as opposed to a multiple store, supermarket, etc.);
corner-tile, a tile used for capping the hip of a roof, a hip-tile;
corner-tooth (see
quot.);
corner-tree (
U.S.), a tree which marks the corner of a surveyed tract. Also
corner-cap, -stone, etc.
| 1955 T. Doyle Lifetime in Hurling xx. 142 John Joe Doyle (Clare)..is my choice for left-*corner-back. 1964 Sports Illustr. 5 Oct. 33/1 Rote..tried to throw to Split End Don Marton, who was being guarded by rookie Corner Back George Byrd. 1979 Southern Star (Ireland) 29 Sept. 24/7 Behind them young Mick Murphy had been clinging leech-like to Ray Cummins while experienced corner-backs Jerry O'Sullivan and Ted O'Brien were also giving nothing away. 1986 Touchdown Apr. 39/1 So often the attention focusses on the cornerbacks who make the most interceptions. |
| 1932 F. L. Wright Autobiogr. ii. 138 The whole exterior was bedeviled..mixed to puzzle-pieces, with corner-boards, panel-boards, window-frames, *corner-blocks. 1962 Gloss. Terms Glass Ind. (B.S.I.) 14 Corner block, specially shaped block used in the dog-house corners. 1966 A. W. Lewis Gloss. Woodworking Terms 18 Corner blocks, wooden blocks glued and screwed in position on the inside of a framework to strengthen the joint. |
| 1855 D. G. Mitchell Fudge Doings (N.Y.) II. 47 (Th)., Presently the *corner-boy, Jerry, comes in. He is a short-haired, half-Irish boy, [etc.]. 1882 Standard 7 Sept. 3/4 The Dublin loafers, or ‘corner boys’, as they are called. 1886 Dublin Daily Express 5 Apr., In the Petty Sessions, Robert Nolan and James Kinsella, two corner boys, were charged with having committed a violent and unprovoked assault. 1888 G. M. Hopkins Let. 10 Feb. (1935) 274 Tramps, Cornerboys, Roughs, Socialists and other pests of society. 1946 J. Hampson in Penguin New Writing 138 Len and his Cardiff. corner-boy have been arrested for the robbery. 1959 Times Lit. Suppl. 1 May 262/3 A Labour M.P...visits the Territory of Wajingaland at the urgent behest of its seediest corner⁓boy. |
| 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour IV. 445 (Farmer) ‘I mean by *corner-coves them sort of men who is always a standing at the corners of the streets and chaffing respectable folks a passing by’. |
| 1960 V. Packard Waste Makers (1961) x. 105 Some of the breaking down undoubtedly resulted from simple *corner-cutting or haste to get out a new model. 1961 M. McCarthy in Harper's Mag. July 51/2 Defective airplanes sold to the government by a corner-cutting manufacturer. |
| 1796 H. Glasse Cookery v. 48 It is a pretty *corner-dish for dinner or supper. |
| 1882 Blackburn Times 1 Apr. 6/3 The first kick from the *corner flag. 1887 M. Shearman Athletics & Football App. 388 In no case shall a goal be scored from any free kick... The kick-off and corner-flag kick shall be free kicks within the meaning of this rule. 1958 Times 24 Nov. 3/2 Scoring by the right-hand corner-flag. 1960 E. S. & W. J. Higham High Speed Rugby xvii. 242 The other forwards..will corner-flag to the open side. 1962 Times 26 Feb. 4/2 A dangerous dribble..was foiled by Jeeps's corner-flagging. |
| 1955 T. Doyle Lifetime in Hurling xx. 144 Other *corner-forwards whom I might easily have included are John Joe Callanan and Willie O'Donnell. 1979 Southern Star (Ireland) 29 Sept. 24/1 As the rising shot sped goalwards the Barrs vigilant corner forward Eamonn Fitzpatrick rose high to flick it past the surprised Midleton defence. |
| 1849 in Mrs. F. L. Adams Pioneer Hist. Ingham Co. (1923) 149 A little old ‘*corner grocery’ building occupied the corner where Pratt & Millspaugh's block now stands. 1859 Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 2), Corner-grocery, a grocer's shop on the corner of two streets, a favorite location for such establishments in American towns. 1862 Congress. Globe 7 July 3159/1 Without subjecting themselves to the charge of disloyalty by every corner-grocery politician in the land. 1870 ‘Fanny Fern’ Ginger-Snaps 106 Tea to the working-girl, taken in this way, is like the ‘corner-grocery-drink’ to the working-man. 1890 G. W. Perrie Buckskin Mose i. 11 Carrying out tea and sugar..with other such necessaries and luxuries, from a corner-grocery. 1932 Atlantic Monthly CL. 141 She telephones to the corner grocery. |
| 1415 in Chambers & Daunt Bk. London Eng. (1931) 232 Fro the *corner howse..vntill the garden. 1598 Stow Surv. London (1908) I. 283 The Corner house, at the ende of Bassings hall streete. 1687, 1886 [see sense 15 a]. 1912 C. Mackenzie Carnival xx. 200 Noisy tea-parties in..the Corner House, where ladies were not permitted to smoke and customers were kindly requested to pay at the desk. 1923 A. Huxley Antic Hay xii. 179 An acquaintance which ripened..over the tea-cups..on the fifth floor of Lyons' Strand Corner House. 1958 G. Greene Our Man in Havana v. vi. 260 We could meet at the Corner House for a cheap snack. 1963 V. Nabokov Gift v. 297 A white Pskovan-type church, which had recently grown up out of the corner house. |
| 1702 J. Logan in Corr. Penn & Logan (1870) I. 129, I have sold the *corner lot next the Meeting-House for {pstlg}115. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. III. iv. lxxxi. 68 To keep a store in a ‘corner lot’ is the ambition of the keen-witted lad. 1909 F. Norris Third Circle 104 Incidentally corner lots are desirable. |
| 1690 in Duxbury (Mass.) Rec. (1893) 71 A stake & a heap of stones for the north east corner, where was the former *corner mark of said land. 1869 Rep. U.S. Comm. Agric. 1868 343 These fragile corner⁓marks are strictly respected by the neighbors, and a case of trespass rarely occurs. |
| 1638 W. Berkeley Lost Lady (N.), A knights daughter..that has not one commendable quality, more then to make a *corner pye and a sallad. |
| 1794 W. Felton Carriages Gloss., *Corner Pillars, the corner framings of bodies. |
| 1445 Plea & Mem. R. Lond. Gildh. A. 71. m. 3b A wall..strecchyng..vnto a *corner post standing in the southest Corner of the tenement. 1648 Charlestown Land Rec. in Records Early Hist. Boston III. 11 A parcell of land lying within and between the upper corner post of the house. 1785 A. Ellicott in C. V. Mathews Life & Lett. (1908) 41 Joseph went with some Hands to enlarge the Pile of Stones about the Corner Post. 1946 F. Davison Dusty iii. 31 There might be a length or two of broken fence, or an old charred corner-post. 1950 N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Jan. 58/3 Corner posts and strainer posts..require special moulds because of their size. Corner posts should measure about 6 in. × 6 in. × 6 ft. 6 in. long. |
| 1278–9 in R. R. Sharpe Calendar of Wills Proved & Enrolled in Court of Husting (1889) I. 37 [To Adam his son and Johanna his daughter a shop called] ‘La *Cornereschoppe.’ 1599 B. Jonson Ev. Man out of Hum. ii. i. 8 He would shewe well vpon a Habberdashers stall, at a corner shop rarely. 1859 Dickens T. Two Cities i. v. 20 The wine shop was a corner shop. 1963 P. Willmott Evolution of Community x. 125 Small, really local pubs and corner shops have found no place in most post-war plans. 1966 Guardian 11 May 4/7 The corner shop is lagging behind the supermarket in hygiene and clean food standards. 1970 C. Fremlin Don't go to Sleep 74 It was a dead street. There were no corner shops, no prams. |
| 1678 Oyster Bay Rec. I. 114 A lott of Land..rainging from ye *corner stake. 1739 in Southampton (N.Y.) Rec. III. 16 They both of them accepted of ye division where they set ye corner stakes. 1873 Eggleston Myst. Metrop. xi. 97 They sought first to guess out the line of a railroad; they examined corner-stakes. 1880 W. James Coll. Ess. & Rev. (1920) 184, I then lay it down as a second corner-stake in our inquiry. |
| 1477 Act 17 Edw. IV, c. 3 Roftile ou crestile *cornertile & guttertile. 1659 Willsford Archit. 17 The corner tyles have their upper angles acute, with pinholes in them. 1726 Neve Builder's Dict., Hip-Tyles, Corner-Tyles. These are to lie on the Hips, or Corners of Roofs. |
| 1755 Johnson, *Corner-teeth of a Horse are the four teeth between the middling teeth and the tushes; two above and two below, on each side of the jaw, which shoot when the horse is four years and a half old. Farrier's Dict. |
| 1889 Farmer Americanisms, *Corner-trees, trees which mark the boundary lines of homesteads, claims, etc. |
▪ II. † corner, n.2 Obs. = cornel n.1, a battlement, embrasure.
| c 1340 Cursor M. 9924 (Laud MS.) The third colour..That tho corners [v.r. kirnels, carneles] with are peynt. c 1400 Mandeville vi. 69 It hath many toures, pynacles and corneres [Roxb. (ix. 35) kirnelles and toures; Fr. kerneux]. |
▪ III. corner, v. (
ˈkɔːnə(r))
[f. the n.] 1. a. trans. To furnish with corners, give corners to. (Chiefly in
pa. pple.)
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 305 Þ⊇ ilond Corsica is cornered wiþ many forlondes, schetynge in to the see. a 1674 Milton Hist. Mosc. iii. (1851) 487 The Imperial City..built of white stone four square..corner'd with four white Towers. 1838 Fraser's Mag. XVIII. 181 Its walls..are whitewashed, and cornered with stone. 1864 R. A. Arnold Cotton Fam. 26 Sometimes it is cornered with pilasters. |
b. to corner off: to finish off with corners, to bring to a square. (
Cf. round off.)
| 1853 Hickie tr. Aristoph. (1872) II. 581 The cornering-off of verses. |
2. To place or set in a corner.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 179 Þe citee..is cornered wiþynne þe clippynge of þe walles faste by þe see side. 1868 Browning Ring & Bk. viii. 45 A decent domicile Cornered in snug Condotti. 1873 ― Red Cotton Night-Cap Country 149 Cornered in the cosiest nook of all. 1888 Times (Weekly ed.) 7 Dec. 7/4 A really clever work may be ‘skied’ or ‘cornered’ simply because it chances to fit a vacant space. |
3. a. To drive into a corner; to force into an awkward or desperate position; to put in a ‘tight place’; to bring to bay. (
App. of
U.S. origin.)
| 1841 Catlin N. Amer. Ind. (1844) II. xlii. 67 Their enemy, who had cornered them up in such a way that there was no other possible mode for their escape. 1851 Hawthorne Ho. Sev. Gables v, A recluse, like Hepzibah, usually displays remarkable frankness..on being absolutely cornered, and brought to the point of personal intercourse. 1866 Cornh. Mag. Dec. 740 The horses..bolt about the yard..and are only cornered with the help of numbers and forced to submit. 1884 Roe Nat. Ser. Story x. in Harper's Mag. Sept. 548/2 A rat will fight a man if cornered. |
b. fig. To put into a position of difficulty or embarrassment.
colloq. (Chiefly
U.S.)
| 1824 Massachusetts Spy 21 Apr. (Th.), Cornered up so unexpectedly, she candidly confessed. 1848 Lowell Fable for Critics Poet. Wks. (Moxon) 345 Although there are few so Outrageously cornered by fate as poor Crusoe. 1867 O. W. Holmes Guard. Angel II. i. 21 Clement was cornered. It was necessary to say something. 1868 Yates Rock Ahead iii. iii, He felt that he was morally ‘cornered’. 1881 Mark Twain Prince & Pauper vi. 57 Once the little Lady Jane turned to Tom and cornered him with this question. |
4. Comm. a. To operate against (a particular stock or commodity, or the dealers in it) by means of a
corner (14); to bring under the control of a ‘corner’. (Of
U.S. origin.)
The sense-development was (1) to corner the speculative sellers of a given stock; (2) to corner the stock or commodity; (3) to corner the Exchange, or market.
| 1836 Knickerbocker VII. 42 He has been cornered by the brokers on the ― stock and has lost all his fortune. 1841 Week in Wall St. 89 A squad of Bull-backers had been secretly..getting control of a certain stock, intending to ‘corner’ some one with it. 1857 Hunt's Merch. Mag. (N.Y.) July XXXVII. 135 The managers of the stock cornered. 1860 in Bartlett Dict. Amer. 1871 Guardian 12 Nov. 1598/1 Some speculators had ‘cornered’ the Cotton Exchange, that is to say, had bought more for the October delivery than can possibly arrive. 1881 Standard 29 July 5/8 Flagrant instances of..‘cornering’ and ‘rigging’ the market. Ibid. 14 Sept. 4/7 When sellers have contracted to supply a quantity in excess of what they can obtain they are said to be ‘Cornered’. 1883 Manch. Exam. 6 Nov. 4/4 Those gentlemen who attempt to ‘corner’ cotton. 1948 Sat. Even. Post 26 June 47/2 The New Bedford whaling firm..set out to corner the whalebone market. |
b. intr. To form a ‘corner’
in a stock or commodity.
| a 1860 A Week in Wall Street 81 (Bartlett) These [brokers] generally unite in squads for the purpose of cornering. 1881 Daily News 28 Sept. 4/7 There are many stocks even in America in which the..Wall-street operators would not dream of attempting to corner. |
5. trans. a. To take round a corner.
b. To go round (a corner) in a race-course. (
colloq.)
| 1861 Dickens Gt. Expect. III. 99 He was taken down the Dover road, and cornered out of it. 1864 Saunders News Lett., Ford gaining a little until they came to the turn into the straight run in to the finish, which Rogers cornered beautifully. |
c. intr. Of a vehicle, horse, etc.: to go round a corner.
Cf. cornering vbl. n. 3.
| 1909 in Webster. 1940 M. Platt Automobile Engin. vii. 149 A third form of axle loading is produced by the lateral forces which arise when a car is cornering. 1958 Times 15 July 7/6 The Six-Ninety..corners smoothly. |
6. intr. To abut or impinge
on at a corner; to meet at a corner or angle.
U.S.| 1821 in Boston (Mass.) Rec. (1909) XXXIX. 189 A point where said fence and his other fence join cornering on said streets. 1863 Hawthorne Our Old Home (1879) 221 The woman led us to a pew cornering on one of the side-aisles. 1883 Pall Mall G. 30 Aug. 11/2 The junction where Montgomery, Yell, and Garland counties corner. |