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Corner

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corner¹

  • /ˈkɔːnə(ɹ)/ UK
  • /ˈkɔɹnɚ/ US

Rhymes with -ɔː(ɹ)nə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

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.

noun corners

  1. 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.
  2. The space in the angle between converging lines or walls which meet in a point. The chimney corner was full of cobwebs.
  3. The projection into space of an angle in a solid object. Herbert bruised his shin on the corner of the coffee table.
  4. 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.
  5. Maine The neighborhood surrounding an intersection of rural roads.
  6. 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
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. An embarrassing situation; a difficulty.
  10. A sufficient interest in a salable security or commodity to allow the cornering party to influence prices. In the 1970s, private investors tried to get a corner on the silver market, but were ultimately unsuccessful.
  11. figuratively Complete control or ownership of something. It's not my oppression, it's not your oppression but rather our oppression. No one of us has a corner on oppression.
  12. One of the four vertices of the strike zone. The pitch was just off the corner, low and outside.
  13. First base or third base. There are runners on the corners with just one out.
  14. A corner kick.
  15. A cornerback.
  16. The corner of the ring, which is where the boxer rests before and during a fight.
  17. broadly The group of people who assist a boxer during a bout.
  18. A place where people meet for a particular purpose. Welcome to our English corner.
  19. obsolete A point scored in a rubber at whist.

Similar: angle, bend, cranny, hern, hideaway, hirn, nook, recess

verb corners · cornering · cornered

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. transitive To put (someone) in an awkward situation.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. intransitive To handle while moving around a corner in a road or otherwise turning. That BMW corners well, but the suspension is too stiff.
  7. transitive To supply with corners. Tool for cornering and cutting off copper switch blades

interjection

  1. Spoken by service staff such as waiters when walking around a corner, to warn other staff and prevent a collision.

corner²

  • /ˈkɔːnə(ɹ)/ UK
  • /ˈkɔɹnɚ/ US

Rhymes with -ɔː(ɹ)nə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

From corn + -er. Piecewise doublet of grainer.

noun corners

  1. One who corns, or preserves food in salt. Big firms received rebates from railroads in which they owned stock, paid off city officials in order to obtain a low-cost water supply, and fought meat-inspection laws, and meat packers speculated in pork and beef corners.

Corner³

proper noun Corners

  1. countable, uncountable A surname.
  2. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States, at the "corner" of three counties.
  3. countable, uncountable A township in Custer County, Nebraska, United States; it is in the north-east corner of the county.

proper noun the Corner

  1. abbreviation, ellipsis Ellipsis of Hyde Park Corner.Hyde Park Corner
  2. archaic, broadly, colloquial The Tattersalls horse repository and betting rooms, originally located at Hyde Park Corner. Indeed, the whole aspect of the Corner, with its open space and green lawns, is so different from what it once was that it requires a glance at the sturdy brick wall of Buckingham Palace Gardens […] to assure the wanderer that, after all, nothing very revolutionary has occurred, and that things are

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