hole-and-corneradj.
/ˌhəʊlən(d)ˈkɔːnə/, /ˌhəʊln̩(d)ˈkɔːnə/, U.S. /ˌhoʊlənˈkɔrnər/ Done or happening in a ‘hole and corner’, or place which is not public; secret, private, clandestine, under-hand. Contemptuously opposed to ‘public’ or ‘open’.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > stealthy action, stealth > [adjective] > accomplished by stealth
stolenc1400
secret1548
clandestine1566
stealed1577
backdoor1581
underhand1592
surreptitial1602
surreptitious?1615
furtive1628
surreptious1630
by1633
surreptive1633
subreptitious1641
surreptitious1645
postern1648
backstairs1663
smuggled1707
underneath1747
underhanded1806
hidlingsa1810
hole-and-corner1835
side door1862
under-cover1933
under the table1938
crafty1946
1835 A. W. Fonblanque in Examiner 12 Apr. 225/2 Hole-and-corner meetings are got up to speak the voice of the nation.
1839 W. B. Stonehouse Hist. Isle of Axholme 77 Any manufacturer of the hole and corner political petitions of the present day.
1862 H. Kingsley Ravenshoe III. 55 Tell me at once what this hole-and-corner work means.
1878 S. Walpole Hist. Eng. I. vi. 600 The Queen's friends declared that the King's supporters were ‘hole-and-corner’ men.
1883 W. Black Shandon Bells i.
Derivatives
hole-and-ˈcornerism n. hole-and-corner action; a system of secret procedure.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > stealthy action, stealth > [noun]
night workOE
stealth1297
surreptionc1400
stouth1513
creeping1565
trunk-worka1616
underdealing1649
stoldred1654
underwork1814
hole-and-cornerism1873
1873 Daily News 7 Nov. 5/4 The real..conduct of French politics at the present moment is by hole-and-cornerism.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1899; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1835