Adjacent Words

coign definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: expandable metal or wooden wedge used by printers to lock up a form within a chase [syn: quoin, coign, coigne]
2: the keystone of an arch [syn: quoin, coign, coigne]

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. Phrases and idioms: coign of vantage a favourable position for observation or action. Etymology: earlier spelling of COIN in the sense 'cornerstone'

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Coign Coign, n. A var. spelling of Coin, Quoin, a corner, wedge; -- chiefly used in the phrase coign of vantage, a position advantageous for action or observation. From some shielded nook or coign of vantage. --The Century. The lithosphere would be depressed on four faces; . . . the four projecting coigns would stand up as continents. --Nature.