1. coign(n = noun.artifact) coigne, quoin - expandable metal or wooden wedge used by printers to lock up a form within a chase;
is a kind of wedge
2. coign(n = noun.artifact) coigne, quoin - the keystone of an arch;
is a kind of headstone, key, keystone
1. A var. spelling of Coin, Quoin, a corner, wedge; -- chiefly used in the phrase coign of vantage, a position advantageous for action or observation. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
"From some shielded nook or coign of vantage." [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
"The lithosphere would be depressed on four faces; . . . the four projecting coigns would stand up as continents." [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
2. an expandable metal or wooden wedge used by printers to lock up a form within a chase. [WordNet 1.5]
3. the keystone of an arch. [WordNet 1.5]
coign, n.
Idiom:
coign of vantage a favourable position for observation or action.
Etymology:
earlier spelling of COIN in the sense 'cornerstone'
N angularity, angularness, aduncity, angle, cusp, bend, fold, notch, fork, bifurcation, elbow, knee, knuckle, ankle, groin, crotch, crutch, crane, fluke, scythe, sickle, zigzag, kimbo, akimbo, corner, nook, recess, niche, oriel, coign, right angle, obliquity, angle of 45 degrees, miter, acute angle, obtuse angle, salient angle, reentering angle, spherical angle, angular measurement, angular elevation, angular distance, angular velocity, trigonometry, goniometry, altimetry, clinometer, graphometer, goniometer, theodolite, sextant, quadrant, dichotomy, triangle, trigon, wedge, rectangle, square, lozenge, diamond, rhomb, rhombus, quadrangle, quadrilateral, parallelogram, quadrature, polygon, pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, octagon, oxygon, decagon, pyramid, cone, Platonic bodies, cube, rhomboid, tetrahedron, pentahedron, hexahedron, octahedron, dodecahedron, icosahedron, eicosahedron, prism, pyramid, parallelopiped, curb roof, gambrel roof, mansard roof, angular, bent, crooked, aduncous, uncinated, aquiline, jagged, serrated, falciform, falcated, furcated, forked, bifurcate, zigzag, furcular, hooked, dovetailed, knock kneed, crinkled, akimbo, kimbo, geniculated, oblique, fusiform, wedge-shaped, cuneiform, cuneate, multangular, oxygonal, triangular, trigonal, trilateral, quadrangular, quadrilateral, foursquare, rectangular, square, multilateral, polygonal, cubical, rhomboid, rhomboidal, pyramidal.