[rab-it] 
noun, verb, -bet⋅ed, -bet⋅ing.| 1. | a deep notch formed in or near one edge of a board, framing timber, etc., so that something else can be fitted into it or so that a door or the like can be closed against it. |
| 2. | a broad groove let into the surface of a board or the like; dado. |
| 3. | to cut a rabbet in (a board or the like). |
| 4. | to join (boards or the like) by means of a rabbet or rabbets. |
| 5. | to join by a rabbet (usually fol. by on or over). |
rab·bet (rāb'ĭt)  (click for larger image in new window) n.
v. tr.
To be joined by a rabbet. [Middle English rabet, from Old French rabat, recess in a wall, act of beating down, from rabattre, to beat down again; see rebate1.] |
rabbeting rab·bet·ing (rāb'ĭ-tĭng)
n.
The making of congruous stepwise cuts on apposing bone surfaces for firmly holding together a fractured bone.
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