Dovetail - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

dove·tail

Audio Help [duhv-teyl] Pronunciation Key

–noun Carpentry.

1.	a tenon broader at its end than at its base; pin.

2.	a joint formed of one or more such tenons fitting tightly within corresponding mortises.

–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)

3.	Carpentry. to join or fit together by means of a dovetail or dovetails.

4.	to join or fit together compactly or harmoniously.

[Origin: 1555–65; so named from its shape

]

—Related forms

dovetailer, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Dovetail

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

dove·tail Audio Help (dŭv'tāl') Pronunciation Key

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n.

A fan-shaped tenon that forms a tight interlocking joint when fitted into a corresponding mortise.
A joint formed by interlocking one or more such tenons and mortises.

v. dove·tailed, dove·tail·ing, dove·tails

v. tr.

To cut into or join by means of dovetails.
To connect or combine precisely or harmoniously.

v. intr.

To be joined together by means of dovetails.
To combine or interlock into a unified whole: The nurses' schedules dovetailed, so that one was always on duty.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

dovetail
noun
1.	a mortise joint formed by interlocking tenons and mortises
verb
1.	fit together tightly, as if by means of a dovetail

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Dovetail

Dove"tail`\, n. (Carp.) 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.

Dovetail molding (Arch.), a molding of any convex section arranged in a sort of zigzag, like a series of dovetails.

Dovetail saw (Carp.), a saw used in dovetailing.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Dovetail

Dove"tail`\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dovetailed; p. pr. & vb. n. Dovetailing.]

1. (Carp.) (a) To cut to a dovetail. (b) To join by means of dovetails.

2. To fit in or connect strongly, skillfully, or nicely; to fit ingeniously or complexly.

He put together a piece of joinery so crossly indented and whimsically dovetailed . . . that it was indeed a very curious show. --Burke.

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