Dovetail
['dʌvteɪl] or ['dʌvtel]
Definition
(noun.) a mortise joint formed by interlocking tenons and mortises.
(verb.) fit together tightly, as if by means of a dovetail.
Checked by Jerome--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) A flaring tenon, or tongue (shaped like a bird's tail spread), and a mortise, or socket, into which it fits tightly, making an interlocking joint between two pieces which resists pulling a part in all directions except one.
(v. t.) To cut to a dovetail.
(v. t.) To join by means of dovetails.
(v. t.) To fit in or connect strongly, skillfully, or nicely; to fit ingeniously or complexly.
Editor: Ryan
Definition
n. a mode of fastening boards together by fitting pieces shaped like a wedge or a dove's tail spread out (tenons) into corresponding cavities (mortises).—v.t. to fit one thing into another.
Typed by Andy
Examples
- At the thicker end, a sawing-out process creates an opening, so that the butt and shaft can dovetail to a depth of seven inches. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- Our natures dovetailed: mutual affection--of the strongest kind--was the result. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- The butt and body are dovetailed together. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- Hall had thick steel plates dovetailed together; and angle irons tenoned at the corners. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- Nicholas Douglass, however, invented a new system of dovetailing, and great improvements have been made in the system of illuminating. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
Edited by Flo