coign of vantage
English
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editNoun
editcoign of vantage (plural coigns of vantage)
- a good position for observation, judgment, criticism, action, etc.
- 1818, Walter Scott, The Heart of Midlothian, page 70:
- ...it seemed as if the traders had occupied with nests, bearing the same proportion to the building, every buttress and coign of vantage, as the martlet in Macbeth’s Castle.
- 1867: A description of the Theatre Royal, Cork (Illustrated London News, Vol LI, p.394)
- ...a spacious gallery, from which latter coign of vantage an excellent view of the stage is afforded
- 1895 A description of the 1895-6 FA Cup First Round match between Southampton St. Mary's and Sheffield Wednesday at the Antelope Ground (David Bull, Bob Brunskill, Match of the Millennium, 2000)
- The enclosure was encircled by a dense and perfect sea of faces. Every coign of vantage had been monopolised, windows and house tops not excepted