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• corner
  corner

  noun

  the place at which two converging lines or surfaces meet.
• Corner
  Corner

  noun

  an area in central Australia, at the junction of the borders of Queensland and South Australia

corner

American  

[kawr-ner] / ˈkɔr nər /

noun

• corners
  plural

1. the place at which two converging lines or surfaces meet.

2. the space between two converging lines or surfaces near their intersection; angle.

   a chair in the corner of the room.

3. a projecting angle, especially of a rectangular figure or object.

   He bumped into the corner of the table.

4. the point where two streets meet.

   the corner of Market and Main Streets.

5. an end; margin; edge.

6. any narrow, secluded, or secret place.

7. an awkward or embarrassing position, especially one from which escape is impossible.

   Synonyms:

   dead end, impasse, predicament

8. Finance. a monopolizing or a monopoly of the available supply of a stock or commodity to a point permitting control of price (applied only when monopoly price is exacted).

9. region; part; quarter.

   from every corner of the empire.

10. Surveying.

    1. the point of intersection of the section lines of a land survey, often marked by a monument or some object, as a pipe that is set or driven into the ground.

    2. a stake, tree, or rock marking the intersection of property lines.

11. a piece to protect the corner of anything.

12. Baseball. Usually the corners first base or third base.

    Votto is out on strikes for the third out, and the Reds leave runners on the corners.

13. Baseball.

    1. any point on the line forming the left or right boundary of home plate.

       a pitch on the corner.

    2. the area formed by the intersection of the foul line and the outfield fence.

14. Boxing.

    1. the immediate area formed by any of the four angles in the ring.

    2. one of the two assigned corners where a boxer rests between rounds and behind which the handlers sit during a fight.

15. Soccer. corner kick.

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adjective

1. situated on or at a corner where two streets meet.

   a corner drugstore.

2. made to fit or be used in a corner.

   a corner cabinet.

verb (used with object)

• corners,
  present (3rd person singular)
• cornered,
  past participle,  past
• cornering
  present participle

1. to furnish with corners.

2. to place in or drive into a corner.

3. to force into an awkward or difficult position or one from which escape is impossible.

   He finally cornered the thief.

4. to gain control of (a stock, commodity, etc.).

verb (used without object)

• corners,
  present (3rd person singular)
• cornered,
  past participle,  past
• cornering
  present participle

1. to meet in or be situated on or at a corner.

2. to form a corner in a stock or commodity.

3. (of an automobile) to turn, especially at a speed relatively high for the angle of the turn involved.

idioms

1. turn the corner, to pass through a crisis safely.

   When the fever passed, we knew he had turned the corner.

2. cut corners,

   1. to use a shorter route.

   2. to reduce costs or care in execution.

      cutting corners to meet the foreign competition.

3. the four corners of the earth, the most distant or remote regions.

   They traveled to the four corners of the earth.

4. rough corners, rude, boorish, or unsophisticated characteristics, manners, or the like.

   Despite his rough corners, he was very likable.

corner ¹ British  

/ ˈkɔːnə /

noun

1. the place, position, or angle formed by the meeting of two converging lines or surfaces

2. a projecting angle of a solid object or figure

3. the place where two streets meet

4. any small, secluded, secret, or private place

5. a dangerous or awkward position, esp from which escape is difficult

   a tight corner

6. any part, region or place, esp a remote place

7. something used to protect or mark a corner, as of the hard cover of a book

8. commerce a monopoly over the supply of a commodity so that its market price can be controlled

9. soccer hockey a free kick or shot from the corner of the field, taken against a defending team when the ball goes out of play over their goal line after last touching one of their players

10. either of two opposite angles of a boxing ring in which the opponents take their rests

11. US name: dihedral.  mountaineering a junction between two rock faces forming an angle of between 60° and 120°

12. to do something in the easiest and shortest way, esp at the expense of high standards

13. close at hand

14. to pass the critical point (in an illness, etc)

15. (modifier) located on a corner

    a corner shop

16. (modifier) suitable or designed for a corner

    a corner table

17. logic either of a pair of symbols used in the same way as ordinary quotation marks to indicate quasi quotation See quasi-quotation

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verb

1. (tr) to manoeuvre (a person or animal) into a position from which escape is difficult or impossible

   finally they cornered the fox

2. (tr) to furnish or provide with corners

3. (tr) to place in or move into a corner

4. (tr)

   1. to acquire enough of (a commodity) to attain control of the market

   2. Also: engross.  to attain control of (a market) in such a manner Compare forestall

5. (intr) (of vehicles, etc) to turn a corner

6. (intr) to be situated on a corner

7. (intr) (in soccer, etc) to take a corner

Corner ² British  

noun

1. informal an area in central Australia, at the junction of the borders of Queensland and South Australia

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corner More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing corner

• around the corner
• cut corners
• four corners of the earth
• in a tight corner
• out of the corner of one's eye
• paint oneself into a corner
• turn the corner

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• corners
  plural

Participles

• cornering
  present
• cornered
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• corner
  simple
• corners
  simple
• have cornered
  perfect
• has cornered
  perfect
• am cornering
  progressive
• are cornering
  progressive
• is cornering
  progressive
• have been cornering
  perfect progressive
• has been cornering
  perfect progressive

Past

• cornered
  simple
• had cornered
  perfect
• was cornering
  progressive
• were cornering
  progressive
• had been cornering
  perfect progressive

Future

• will corner
  simple
• will have cornered
  perfect
• will be cornering
  progressive
• will have been cornering
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of corner

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Old French cornier(e), “a corner,” from Vulgar Latin corna, Latin cornua, plural of cornū “(animal) horn” + -er noun suffix; see origin at horn; see also cornu -er )

Explanation

Corners are everywhere. Two perpendicular lines form a corner. Rooms and streets have corners too. If a child misbehaves in class, the teacher might make him stand in the corner. The key to a corner is that it leads in two directions: when you look at the corner of a room, you could hang a picture to the right or left of the corner, but not in the corner itself. A street corner usually has a street sign and sometimes a bus stop, too. A square table has four corners, but a round table doesn't have any corner. Notice how when you look straight at a corner, there's nowhere to go? That's why corner is also a verb. If you say, "I cornered him," it means you trapped him and gave him nowhere to turn. Whenever we don't see a lot of options, we feel cornered.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

corner Corner corners cornered cornering

The day after he failed to reel in a flyball in the right-field corner at Dodger Stadium, he had a far worse drop Monday at Coors Field.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

One data centre completed earlier this year was installed in a corner of the Dolomite Mountains, external in Italy.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

“For a program that’s been around since 2013, it was shocking that you’d come across its cancellation, effectively, in the corner of the bowels of a subpage of the internet.”

From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026

After years of unsuccessful makeover attempts by previous management teams, the British luxury trench coat brand appears to be turning a corner and increased sales by 4% over the three months through June.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

There’s a third cluster of kids in the corner of the room.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

Liz Luciano, an executive assistant to New York City financial and real-estate firms, frequently has to secure reservations for in-demand restaurants like The Corner Store or The Polo Bar for her bosses.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

Speaking outside court, McKee's sister Nichola Corner said the justice system had "completely failed" her family.

From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026

The parade will start at Hyde Park Corner in Westminster, and then move along Piccadilly towards Piccadilly Circus.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

Proponents like Mark Borman of Bridge & Corner, which hosts film production in the area, said the BID could address environmental concerns affecting the well-being of their tenants.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 20, 2026

Corner of my eye I see Matt and Lance run up behind Calvin.

From "The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle" by Leslie Connor

Semiconductor stocks experienced renewed pressure on Wednesday as the artificial-intelligence trade lost some shine and investors poured into other corners of the market.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026

The ruling "does not fall within the four corners of the law", Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said in a video statement shared on X by state broadcaster Radio Pakistan.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

What won't be changing: Unlike at the World Cup, there will be no VAR interventions on incorrect corners or red cards for players who cover their mouth in a confrontational situation.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

With runners on the corners and one out, he gave up the only run of his start, on a sacrifice fly by Salvador Perez.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

I tear my eyes away and fix them onto translucent holograms emitting from small pucks on the ground, positioned at the corners of some of these tents.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

Prime Video has cornered the market on young-adult fiction, catering to a massive audience of women and girls who want to escape into love stories.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026

Christ was cornered — pay taxes to Rome, or be branded a traitor — and so he turned the trap into a statement about the limits of power.

From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026

The more exposed he is to the laughter, and the more cornered he feels, the more ridiculously he will have to respond—because he can’t admit to an error.

From Slate ● Jun. 27, 2026

D-Wave has cornered the market for annealing quantum systems, which are tailored to optimization problems.

From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026

I’ve never seen him this way, wild-eyed and flailing, like a cornered animal.

From "X: A Novel" by Ilyasah Shabazz

With ambitions of cornering the electric vehicle market, India is also on the lookout for critical minerals such as lithium -- another resource Australia has in abundance.

From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026

Furious, Vanderbilt sought revenge by cornering Erie stock, buying up all available shares.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

Ferrari's strong starts and superior cornering speed puts them in the mix in the early laps, and the new hybrid engine with their "boost" and "overtake" modes leads to switching of positions for a while.

From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2026

Tesla is one of several companies pushing the frontiers of robotics in the hopes of cornering a nascent market.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 3, 2026

Soon, Fairbanks was cornering office mates with wild talk about good and evil spirits.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

Related Words

• edge
• intersection
• rim