dovetail

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I agree with John the dovetail is a perfect joint the way it works is genius, (when done right) I either need someone to coach me on a different way to get a good dovetail (everytime) or change.

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Definitions (21)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (6)

  1. noun A fan-shaped tenon that forms a tight interlocking joint when fitted into a corresponding mortise.
  2. noun A joint formed by interlocking one or more such tenons and mortises.
  3. transitive verb To cut into or join by means of dovetails.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (11)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (2)

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Examples (50)

  • His two occupations dovetail, the anecdotes and the writing feeding into each other.
  • You see it in children who become driven to master the piano, or the dovetail joint. —  UUpdates - All updates
  • Mike, I'm pretty sure it's a Siminoff joint (solid, but not as elegant or difficult as a dovetail). —  Mandolin Cafe News
  • As dovetail is to pieces that fit together magnificently in carpentry, so to split that word is to give the significance of dove which is for peace and tail which is also for tale. —  Aish Weekly Articles
  • No, it wouldn't "dovetail" too well, but after the fail of BD I think I would prefer that kind of ending. —  Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider
 

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This word has been looked up 122 times.

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same contextWord Family

dovetail:   dovetails
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from dove tail. Cf. equivalent culvertail.
  2. from dovetail, n.
 

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/ˈdəvteɪl/
by American Heritage

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