cornered
Americanadjective
-
having corners (usually used in combination).
a six-cornered room.
-
having a given number of positions; sided (usually used in combination).
a four-cornered debate.
-
forced into an awkward, embarrassing, or inescapable position.
a cornered debater; a cornered fox.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of cornered
Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at corner, -ed 3
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A leadership that feels cornered may escalate rather than accommodate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
Police officers followed and cornered the horse on motorbikes, before it was wrangled by a lasso-carrying cowboy.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 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
D-Wave has cornered the market for annealing quantum systems, which are tailored to optimization problems.
From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026
There is something really weird about being cornered into shaking a guy’s left hand.
From "Winger" by Andrew Smith
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
