QUOIN • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Quoin

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noun

Quoin n.

(Arch.) Originally, a solid exterior angle, as of a building; now, commonly, one of the selected pieces of material by which the corner is marked. Note: 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.

A wedgelike piece of stone, wood, metal, or other material, used for various purposes; as:

(a)

(Masonry) To support and steady a stone.

(b)

(Gun.) To support the breech of a cannon.

(c)

(Print.) To wedge or lock up a form within a chase.

(d)

(Naut.) To prevent casks from rolling.

Hollow quoin. See under Hollow.

Quoin post (Canals), the post of a lock gate which abuts against the wall.

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Etymology of 'Quoin'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Quoin" Quotes from Famous Books

... distinctly see the junction of the two main branches, the true Olo' Mpongwe, the main stream flowing from the Eastern Ghats, and the Rembwe (Ramboue) or south-eastern influent. At the confluence, tree- dots, tipping the watery marge, denoted what Barbot calls the "Pongo Islands." These are the quoin-shaped mass "Dambe" (Orleans Island) alias "Coniquet" (the Conelet), often corrupted to Konikey; the Konig Island of the old Hollander,[FN3] and the Prince's Island of the ancient Briton. It was so called because held by the Mwani-pongo, who was to this region what the Mwani- congo ...

— Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo Volume 1 • Richard F. Burton

... (Figs. 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16) are manufactured, the angle occurring (if we omit the hexagonals and take the 18 inch slab) at three-quarters the length of each slab. This gives a half-slab bond to each course, as on one face of the quoin in one course will appear a quarter slab and in the course above a three-quarter slab superimposed upon it, or vice versa. Thus are the walls in Figs. 19 and 20 built up. For openings, the jambs and lintels (and in window-openings the sill) are made solid with a provision for ...

— Scientific American Supplement, No. 514, November 7, 1885 • Various

Words linked to "Quoin" : key, edifice, corner, construction, coign, building, keystone, wedge, architecture, coigne