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:
That last corner, Norris said, "I thought I was in the wall and that was just from over-pushing. I got a bit excited in the car and I just over-pushed the entry."
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
For several weeks each year, ethnic Tibetans in this village pluck matsutake mushrooms, a flavorful fungus that is believed to boast medicinal properties—and can make fortunes in this less-developed corner of China.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026
At 65, you never know what’s around the corner.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 11, 2026
To learn about them is to learn about a different corner of L.A., from ERL’s Venice and Becky G’s Inglewood to Sage Elsesser’s Mid-City and Kiko Kostadinov’s Melrose Hill.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
She goes over to the mini fridge in the corner then returns with a bottle of water and sits back down.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
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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
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
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
"Any given day out at our airport, there will be 80 to 100 private jets on the tarmac, primarily Yellowstone Club guests," says Corner.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
‘Whatever you do, you mustn’t land in the middle of Hyde Park Corner.’
From "The BFG" by Roald Dahl
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The straights are short, and some of the corner entries, which combine braking and turning, mean, as Verstappen put it, "there are no corners where you can pass".
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 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
Buyers have been spotted changing into their new shoes on street corners.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026
They appear at the corners of magnetic domain walls separating different spin arrangements, and their defining feature is their extremely limited mobility.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 7, 2026
Tears leak from the corners of my eyes every time I think about what the look on Dr.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
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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
Created in 2017, Binance has cornered much of the crypto-trading market, turning its co-founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao into a billionaire.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
We’re frankly confused how Auchincloss cornered himself into this one.
From Slate ● May 30, 2026
She hissed and spat like a cornered animal.
From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill
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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.