hole-and-corner
Americanadjective
-
secretive; clandestine; furtive.
The political situation was full of hole-and-corner intrigue.
-
trivial and colorless.
She was living a hole-and-corner existence of daily drudgery.
adjective
Etymology
Origin of hole-and-corner
First recorded in 1825–35
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.
The oxygen mask wall continue to put a new face on the secret agent of tradition, marking his release from the hole-and-corner, back-alley deals of history.
From Time Magazine Archive
Said one American: "Has an international document ever been ratified in such a hole-and-corner fashion?"
From Time Magazine Archive
You can say or print almost anything so long as you are willing to do it in a hole-and-corner way.
From Time Magazine Archive
No secret tribunals, no hole-and-corner commitments with us!
From A Day's Ride A Life's Romance by Charles James Lever
I says, 'just as it's that of the law, that we don't countenance hole-and-corner business.
From In the Mayor's Parlour by J. S. (Joseph Smith) Fletcher
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
