corner
Americannoun
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corners
plural
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the place at which two converging lines or surfaces meet.
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the space between two converging lines or surfaces near their intersection; angle.
a chair in the corner of the room.
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a projecting angle, especially of a rectangular figure or object.
He bumped into the corner of the table.
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the point where two streets meet.
the corner of Market and Main Streets.
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any narrow, secluded, or secret place.
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an awkward or embarrassing position, especially one from which escape is impossible.
- Synonyms:
- dead end, impasse, predicament
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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).
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from every corner of the empire.
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Surveying.
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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.
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a stake, tree, or rock marking the intersection of property lines.
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a piece to protect the corner of anything.
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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.
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Baseball.
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any point on the line forming the left or right boundary of home plate.
a pitch on the corner.
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the area formed by the intersection of the foul line and the outfield fence.
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Boxing.
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the immediate area formed by any of the four angles in the ring.
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one of the two assigned corners where a boxer rests between rounds and behind which the handlers sit during a fight.
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Soccer. corner kick.
adjective
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situated on or at a corner where two streets meet.
a corner drugstore.
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made to fit or be used in a corner.
a corner cabinet.
verb (used with object)
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corners,
present (3rd person singular)
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cornered,
past participle, past
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cornering
present participle
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to furnish with corners.
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to place in or drive into a corner.
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to force into an awkward or difficult position or one from which escape is impossible.
He finally cornered the thief.
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to gain control of (a stock, commodity, etc.).
verb (used without object)
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corners,
present (3rd person singular)
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cornered,
past participle, past
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cornering
present participle
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to meet in or be situated on or at a corner.
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to form a corner in a stock or commodity.
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(of an automobile) to turn, especially at a speed relatively high for the angle of the turn involved.
idioms
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turn the corner, to pass through a crisis safely.
When the fever passed, we knew he had turned the corner.
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cut corners,
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to use a shorter route.
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to reduce costs or care in execution.
cutting corners to meet the foreign competition.
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the four corners of the earth, the most distant or remote regions.
They traveled to the four corners of the earth.
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rough corners, rude, boorish, or unsophisticated characteristics, manners, or the like.
Despite his rough corners, he was very likable.
noun
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the place, position, or angle formed by the meeting of two converging lines or surfaces
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a projecting angle of a solid object or figure
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the place where two streets meet
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any small, secluded, secret, or private place
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a dangerous or awkward position, esp from which escape is difficult
a tight corner
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any part, region or place, esp a remote place
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something used to protect or mark a corner, as of the hard cover of a book
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commerce a monopoly over the supply of a commodity so that its market price can be controlled
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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
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either of two opposite angles of a boxing ring in which the opponents take their rests
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US name: dihedral. mountaineering a junction between two rock faces forming an angle of between 60° and 120°
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to do something in the easiest and shortest way, esp at the expense of high standards
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close at hand
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to pass the critical point (in an illness, etc)
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(modifier) located on a corner
a corner shop
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(modifier) suitable or designed for a corner
a corner table
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logic either of a pair of symbols used in the same way as ordinary quotation marks to indicate quasi quotation See quasi-quotation
verb
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(tr) to manoeuvre (a person or animal) into a position from which escape is difficult or impossible
finally they cornered the fox
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(tr) to furnish or provide with corners
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(tr) to place in or move into a corner
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(tr)
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to acquire enough of (a commodity) to attain control of the market
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Also: engross. to attain control of (a market) in such a manner Compare forestall
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(intr) (of vehicles, etc) to turn a corner
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(intr) to be situated on a corner
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(intr) (in soccer, etc) to take a corner
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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cornersimple
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cornerssimple
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have corneredperfect
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has corneredperfect
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am corneringprogressive
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are corneringprogressive
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is corneringprogressive
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have been corneringperfect progressive
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has been corneringperfect progressive
Past
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corneredsimple
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had corneredperfect
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was corneringprogressive
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were corneringprogressive
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had been corneringperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing corner
"Eleven"
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"Eleven," Vocabulary from the short story
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"Mother to Son"
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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.
See Examples For:
Andy Robertson tried to stop a corner but only gifted the ball to John McGinn and, after Boubacar Kamara's effort, Manzambi prodded in from close range.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
And Anthony's simple header from a corner took this season's total to five.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
The moves have helped Net-a-Porter turn a financial corner.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
But that hasn’t stopped a big-name manager from recently entering this corner of the market.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
I avert my eyes and continue around the corner.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
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Starbucks named Andrew Corner, formerly of Nike, as senior vice president of supply chain operations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
There was Dutch Corner, where an army of orange-clad supporters camped out for days and partied to EDM while waiting for the race.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
Sheri Lochner, a 64-year-old Monrovia resident, is part of East Pasadena Community Defense Corner, a small group that “provides support and a sense of community” for day laborers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
The parade made its way from Hyde Park Corner via Piccadilly.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
The men on the Corner seemed to pay no attention to Mr. Charlie.
From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride
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When people will show up to see a movie regardless of its content or quality, filmmakers can cut all the corners they want.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026
The new circuit, known as the 'Madring', is a demanding 5.4-kilometre track with 22 corners, including its headline feature, a 24-percent-banked turn nicknamed "La Monumental".
From Barron's ● Sep. 12, 2026
The horrors came from all corners of the continent.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
"You've got three corners where you're turning and braking, and if you lock up, the wall is right in front of you, which is very reminiscent of the corner in Baku - Turn 15."
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
There was so much ivy that it covered the hinges and top corners of the door but left the numbers 111 visible.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
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Police officers followed and cornered the horse on motorbikes, before it was wrangled by a lasso-carrying cowboy.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026
Harrison thought he had the animal cornered between two cars at one point, but no such luck — it slipped away.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
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
Once she had him cornered in the tiny scullery off the kitchen, she started.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
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I hate that feeling of overspilled momentum when cornering and braking.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
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
In other words, it is the track where cornering performance - particularly at low and medium-speed - is most important, and engine power least.
From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2026
Howard made sport of cornering journalists who had criticized Seabiscuit.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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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.