coffin corner

Definitions

1. 1

   The position in a formation of ships or bombers that is most exposed to enemy fire.

   • We'd though that because of the TNT we might be somewhere in the middle. But we got the rear corner on the starboard side. They call that the coffin corner.
   • Suddenly we spotted her coming directly for the Spencer, since the Spencer was the last ship in the column next to the sun ('coffin corner,' it is called.)
   • Forgetting he was an officer, I shot back, "Friend, you didn't draw coffin corner because of me, I drew it because of you!"
2. 2

   A situation in which the aircraft cannot increase or decrease its airspeed without…

   A situation in which the aircraft cannot increase or decrease its airspeed without stalling or buffeting.

   • Here, in fact, is the so-called “coffin corner,” with the pilot juggling the throttle betwixt buffeting and highspeed stalling.
   • The U-2 had to fly in the “coffin corner” of its flight envelope, one knot from stalling, one knot from overstressing the airframe, and one SA-2 from an international incident.
   • Coffin corner continues to trap the unwary, as witness the losses of Air France 447 over the Atlantic in 2009 and Air Asia 8501 over the Java Sea in 2014.
3. 3

   A corner of the field formed by the opponent's goal line and a sideline, into which a…

   A corner of the field formed by the opponent's goal line and a sideline, into which a punt is often aimed in order to force the opposition to play close to their goal line.

   • During that second half, Carideo, one of Notre Dame's greatest punters, repeatedly kept SMU bottled up deep in its own territory on “coffin-corner” punts which invariably went out of bounds inside the Mustangs' 10-yard line.
   • Kick it hard, kick it deep, and aim for the coffin corner when close enough to the opponents' end zone.
4. ›+ 1 more definitionshow fewer

   1. 4

      Used other than figuratively or idiomatically

      Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see coffin, corner.

      • Last of all she paints the little dog with his leg cocked over the coffin corner.

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