Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1200-1300
Language: Old French
Origin: cornere, from corne 'horn, corner', from Latin cornu 'horn, point'


1 noun
Related topics: Football, Other Sports, Roads
cor‧ner1 S1 W2

where two lines/edges meet

[countable] the point at which two lines or edges meet:
He pulled a dirty handkerchief out by its corner and waved it at me.
corner of
Their initials were sewn on the corner of every pillow.
in the corner (of something)
The TV station's name appears in the corner of the screen.
on the corner (of something)
Jessie sat on the corner of her bed.
three-cornered/four-cornered etc
a three-cornered hat


[countable usually singular]
a) the point where two roads meet
corner of
Ruth walked with her as far as the corner of the road.
on the corner
The hotel is on the corner of 5th and Maine.
at the corner
Several women were standing at the corner, talking to two police officers.
kids hanging around on street corners
b) TTR a point in a road where it turns sharply:
He had tried to take the corner too quickly, and had lost control of the car.
The petrol station is around the corner.

corner of a room/box

[countable usually singular] the place inside a room or box where two walls or sides meet
in the corner (of something)
There was an old piano in the corner of the living room.
corner table/seat
I reserved a corner table in my favourite restaurant.


[countable] the sides of your mouth or eyes:
A tear appeared in the corner of his eye.

difficult situation

[singular] a difficult situation that you cannot easily escape from
back/box/force/push somebody into a corner (=put someone into a situation where they do not have any choices about what to do)
Don't let your enemies back you into a corner.
The writers have painted themselves into a corner by killing off all the most popular characters in the first series.
He found himself in a tight corner (=a very difficult situation) looking for a way to get out.


a) DSF a kick that one team is allowed to take from one of the corners of their opponent's end of the field
b) DSO any of the four corners of the area in which the competitors fight in boxing or wrestling, especially one of the two corners where the competitors go in between rounds

distant place

[countable] a distant place in another part of the world
corner of
She's gone off to work in some remote corner of the world.
People came from the four corners of the world (=from lots of different places) to make America their new home.

see something out of the corner of your eye

to notice something accidentally, without turning your head towards it or looking for it:
Out of the corner of her eye she saw the dog running towards her.

(just) around/round the corner

a) near:
There's a bus stop just around the corner.
b) likely to happen soon:
Economic recovery is just around the corner.

turn the corner

to start to become successful or to feel better or happier, after a time when you have been unsuccessful, ill, or unhappy:
We knew Dad had turned the corner when he started complaining about the hospital food.

fight your corner/fight somebody's corner

British English to try very hard to defend yourself in a discussion or argument, or to do this for someone else:
My line manager supports me, and says she's willing to fight my corner.

cut corners

to save time, money, or energy by doing things quickly and not as carefully as you should:
Don't try to cut corners when you're decorating.

cut a corner

to go across the corner of something, especially a road, instead of staying next to the edges

have/get a corner on something

BBT to be the only company, organization etc that has a particular product, ability, advantage etc:
London does not have a corner on film festivals.
The company admitted reducing prices to get a corner on the market.

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