fight one's corner

present singular third person fights one's corner · participle present fighting one's corner · participle past fought one's corner · past fought one's corner · alternative fight for one's corner

1. UKidiomaticTo vigorously promote or defend one's interests, views, etc.

   Mr Kornhauser could now have the British Government helping to fight his corner. Malcolm Rifkind, the Foreign Secretary, is to put pressure on the Swiss government.

   1996 September 10, Charlie Bain, Louise Jury, “Swiss asked: 'Where is that stolen gold?'”, in Independent, UK, retrieved 11 Aug 2017

   5 more examples

   The right hon. Gentleman the Member for Trinity College, who had fought his corner well for the landlords, must know the heavy disabilities under which the tenants referred to suffered through no fault of their own.

   1896, The Parliamentary Debates of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. XLIII, p. 866 (Google preview)

   Mr. Berezovsky left Russia for a relatively opulent self-exile. . . . [H]e estimated his fortune at some $3 billion and he has enlisted high-powered public relations and law firms to fight his corner.

   2003 March 25, Alan Cowell, “Russian Billionaire Is Arrested in London”, in New York Times, retrieved 11 Aug 2017

   Dermot Ahern established himself as a reforming and combative minister during his two years holding the Justice portfolio. . . . [H]e relished fighting his corner with successive opposition spokesmen.

   2010 December 1, Tom Brady, “Combative reformer who relished fighting his corner”, in Independent.ie, Ireland, retrieved 11 Aug 2017

   The gull stabbed and weaved. The big crab held up its fighting claws and circled. Suddenly all the birds in the tide water flew up at once in a clatter of wings. The crab fought his corner.

   2013, Ian McDonald, chapter 62, in Chaga, →ISBN

   The federation, set up in 1919 after police were banned from taking industrial action when strikes led to riots and looting, is a statutory body that provides legal support to its officers, as well as fighting their corner like a union would over pay, conditions and welfare.

   2025 April 5, John Simpson, “Police Federation under fire for backing ‘unsackable’ rogue cops”, in The Observer