From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Quoin \Quoin\ (kwoin or koin; 277), noun [See {Coin}, and cf. {Coigne}.]
1. (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.
2. 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.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: expandable metal or wooden wedge used by printers to lock up a form within a chase [syn: {coign}, {coigne}]
2: the keystone of an arch [syn: {coign}, {coigne}]
3: (architecture) solid exterior angle of a building; especially one formed by a cornerstone [syn: {corner}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
58 Moby Thesaurus words for "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
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