DOVETAIL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does dovetail mean? 

• DOVETAIL (noun)
  The noun DOVETAIL has 1 sense:

1. a mortise joint formed by interlocking tenons and mortises

  Familiarity information: DOVETAIL used as a noun is very rare.

• DOVETAIL (verb)
  The verb DOVETAIL has 1 sense:

1. fit together tightly, as if by means of a dovetail

  Familiarity information: DOVETAIL used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DOVETAIL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A mortise joint formed by interlocking tenons and mortises

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

dovetail; dovetail joint

Hypernyms ("dovetail" is a kind of...):

mortise-and-tenon joint; mortise joint (a joint made by inserting tenon on one piece into mortise holes in the other)

Derivation:

dovetail (fit together tightly, as if by means of a dovetail)

• DOVETAIL (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they dovetail    ... he / she / it dovetails   
Past simple: dovetailed   
Past participle: dovetailed   
-ing form: dovetailing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Fit together tightly, as if by means of a dovetail

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "dovetail" is one way to...):

fit (make fit)

Cause:

fit; go (be the right size or shape; fit correctly or as desired)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

dovetail (a mortise joint formed by interlocking tenons and mortises)

 Context examples 

Our natures dovetailed: mutual affection—of the strongest kind—was the result.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)