Cater-corner
//ˈkatəˌkɔːnə// adj, adv
adj, adv ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Adjective
- 1 Of or pertaining to something at a diagonal to another; of four corners, those diagonal to another. Canada, US, not-comparable
"The Empire State Building and the old Altman's Department store are catercorner, at Fifth Avenue and East 34th Street, with the ESB at the southwest, and Altman's at the northeast."
- 2 Uneven, not square, as mislaid stones or people with a limping gait. UK, dialectal, not-comparable, obsolete
Adverb
- 1 Diagonally across from. Canada, US, not-comparable
"Altman's is sited catercorner to the ESB."
Example
More examples"The Empire State Building and the old Altman's Department store are catercorner, at Fifth Avenue and East 34th Street, with the ESB at the southwest, and Altman's at the northeast."
Etymology
Presumably a clipped form of cater-cornered, from cater + cornered, q.v., although catty-cornered is attested earlier (1838).
Related phrases
More for "cater-corner"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.