quoin

• POS: Noun

CIDE DICTIONARY

quoin, n. [See Coin, and cf. Coigne.].

•  Originally, a solid exterior angle, as of a building; now, commonly, one of the selected pieces of material by which the corner is marked.  [1913 Webster]

  " In stone, the quoins consist of blocks larger than those used in the rest of the building, and cut to dimension. In brickwork, quoins consist of groups or masses of brick laid together, and in a certain imitation of quoins of stone."  [1913 Webster]
•  A wedgelike piece of stone, wood, metal, or other material, used for various purposes;  [1913 Webster]

Hollow quoin. See under Hollow. -- Quoin post (Canals), the post of a lock gate which abuts against the wall.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

quoin, n. & v.
--n.
1 an external angle of a building.
2 a stone or brick forming an angle; a cornerstone.
3 a wedge used for locking type in a forme.
4 a wedge for raising the level of a gun, keeping the barrel from rolling, etc.
--v.tr. secure or raise with quoins.

Derivative

quoining n.

Etymology

var. of COIN

THESAURUS

quoin

Intertype, L, Linotype, Monotype, angle, apex, bend, bifurcation, bight, cant, chevron, coin, cold-type typesetting, composing, composing stick, composition, computerized typesetting, corner, cornerstone, crank, crook, crotchet, deflection, dogleg, dummy, first stone, footstone, fork, foundation stone, furcation, furniture, galley chase, headstone, hook, hot-metal typesetting, imposition, inflection, justification, keystone, knee, layout, line of type, nook, photocomposition, photosetting, phototypesetter, phototypesetting machine, point, setting, slug, swerve, typesetting, typesetting machine, veer, vertex, zag, zig, zigzag