mortise
a notch, hole, groove, or slot made in a piece of wood or the like to receive a tenon of the same dimensions.
a deep recess cut into wood for any of several other purposes, as for receiving a mortise lock.
Printing. a space cut out of a plate, especially for the insertion of type or another plate.
to secure with a mortise and tenon
to cut or form a mortise in (a piece of wood or the like).
to join securely.
Printing.
to cut metal from (a plate).
to cut out metal from a plate and insert (new material) in its place.
Origin of mortise
1- Also mor·tice .
Other words from mortise
- mor·tis·er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use mortise in a sentence
Hand-hewn timbers, morticed and pinned together, take the place of riveted steel beams.
If You're Going to Live in the Country | Thomas H. Ormsbee and Richmond HuntleyThe cabin had been built for many decades—built of white oak, hewn, morticed and tenoned.
Child and Country | Will Levington ComfortAt the middle point of the shaft three wooden “plumes” were morticed in.
The Histories of Polybius, Vol. II (of 2) | PolybiusIt was not morticed into the woodwork but simply screwed on from the outside.
The Dreadnought of the Air | Percy F. WestermanA Morticed Block is made of a single block of wood, morticed out to receive a sheave.
The Seaman's Friend | Richard Henry Dana
British Dictionary definitions for mortise
mortice
/ (ˈmɔːtɪs) /
a slot or recess, usually rectangular, cut into a piece of wood, stone, etc, to receive a matching projection (tenon) of another piece, or a mortise lock
printing a cavity cut into a letterpress printing plate into which type or another plate is inserted
to cut a slot or recess in (a piece of wood, stone, etc)
to join (two pieces of wood, stone, etc) by means of a mortise and tenon
to cut a cavity in (a letterpress printing plate) for the insertion of type, etc
Origin of mortise
1Derived forms of mortise
- mortiser, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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