[f. CORK sb.1 + -ER1.]
† 1. ? A cork-cutter. Obs.
1723. Lond. Gaz., No. 6172/11. John Ping … Corker.
2. slang. Something that closes a discussion, or puts an end to any matter; a ‘settler’; a thing that one cannot get over. Hence, something very striking or astonishing, e.g., a monstrous lie. (Cf. CAULKER 4.)
1837–40. Haliburton, Clockm. (1862), 86 (Farmer). Then I let’s him have it, right, left, right, jist three corkers.
1873. Slang Dict., Corker, ‘that’s a corker,’ i. e. that settles the question, or closes the discussion.
1889. The Voice (N.Y.), 5 Dec. ‘It’s a corker. If it [a proposed law] passes we’ll have to quit.’
