corner
UK /ˈkɔːnə(ɹ)/ · US /ˈkɔɹnɚ/ noun, verb, interjection, proper noun
Forms corners cornering cornered the Corner
- noun The point where two converging lines meet; an angle, either external or internal. “The corners of the wire mesh were reinforced with little blobs of solder.”
- noun The space in the angle between converging lines or walls which meet in a point. “The chimney corner was full of cobwebs.”
- noun The projection into space of an angle in a solid object. “Herbert bruised his shin on the corner of the coffee table.”
- noun An intersection of two streets; any of the four outer points off the street at that intersection. “The liquor store on the corner also sold lottery tickets.”
- noun (Maine) The neighborhood surrounding an intersection of rural roads.
- noun (attributive) Denoting a premises that is in a convenient local location, notionally, but not necessarily literally, on the corner of two streets. “corner store, corner deli, corner newsagent”
- noun An edge or extremity; the part farthest from the center; hence, any quarter or part, or the direction in which it lies. “Shining a light in the dark corners of the mind. I took a trip out to his corner of town.”
- noun A secret or secluded place; a remote or out of the way place; a nook. “On weekends, Emily liked to find a quiet corner and curl up with a good book.”
- verb (transitive) To drive (someone or something) into a corner or other confined space. “The cat had cornered a cricket between the sofa and the television stand.”
- verb (transitive) To trap in a position of great difficulty or hopeless embarrassment. “The reporter cornered the politician by pointing out the hypocrisy of his position on mandatory sentencing, in light of the politician's own actions in court.”
- verb (transitive) To put (someone) in an awkward situation.
- verb (finance, business, transitive) To get sufficient command of (a stock, commodity, etc.), so as to be able to manipulate its price. “The buyers attempted to corner the shares of the railroad stock, so as to facilitate their buyout.”
- verb (automotive, transitive) To turn a corner or drive around a curve. “As the stock car driver cornered the last turn, he lost control and spun out.”
- verb (automotive, intransitive) To handle while moving around a corner in a road or otherwise turning. “That BMW corners well, but the suspension is too stiff.”
- verb (transitive) To supply with corners.
- interjection Spoken by service staff such as waiters when walking around a corner, to warn other staff and prevent a collision.
- noun One who corns, or preserves food in salt.
- proper noun A surname.
- proper noun An unincorporated community in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States, at the "corner" of three counties.
- proper noun A township in Custer County, Nebraska, United States; it is in the north-east corner of the county.
Synonyms
angle bend cranny hern hideaway hirn nook recess street corner turning point recession niche box quoin tree
Etymology
From Middle English corner, from Anglo-Norman cornere (compare Old French cornier, corniere (“corner”)), from Old French corne (“corner, angle”, literally “a horn, projecting point”), from Vulgar Latin *corna (“horn”), from Latin cornua, plural of cornū (“projecting point, end, horn”). The sense of "angle, corner" in Old French is not found in Latin or other Romance languages. It was possibly calqued from Frankish *hurnijā (“corner, angle”), which is similar to, and derived from *hurn, the Frankish word for "horn".
* Displaced native cognate Middle English hirn, herne, from Old English hyrne, from Proto-Germanic *hurnijǭ (“little horn, hook, angle, corner”), whence modern English hirn (“nook, corner”), itself related to horn. Also displaced native Old English sċēat.
From corn + -er. Piecewise doublet of grainer.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The point where two converging lines meet; an angle, either external or internal.
- noun The space in the angle between converging lines or walls which meet in a point; as, the chimney corner.
- verb To drive into a corner.
- verb To drive into a position of great difficaulty or hopeless embarrassment; as, to corner a person in argument.
Etymology [OF. corniere, cornier, LL. cornerium, corneria, fr. L. cornu horn, end, point. See Horn.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “corner”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details