DOVETAIL • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Dovetail

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/dˈəvtˌeɪl/ Listen

noun

Dovetail 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.

verb

Dovetail v. t. (past & past part. dovetailed; pres. part. dovetailing)

(Carp.)

(a)

To cut to a dovetail.

(b)

To join by means of dovetails.

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."

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Etymology of 'Dovetail'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Dovetail" Quotes from Famous Books

... least possible extra deep cutting; and in so arranging the main drains as to require the smallest possible amount of the larger and more costly pipes; or, if only a part of the farm is to be drained during the coming season, in so arranging the work that it will dovetail nicely with future operations. A mistake in actual work is costly, and, (being buried under the ground,) is not easily detected, while errors in drawing upon paper are always obvious, and are remedied ...

— Draining for Profit, and Draining for Health • George E. Waring

... deflected into various by-ways. I once knew a parrot who was employed by a sailor-man to curse for him when his own speech was suspended by liquor. He could also whistle ballads and polkas, and had attained an astonishing proficiency in these arts; for, by long practice, he could dovetail curses and whistles in a most energetic and, indeed, astonishing manner. It would often project two whistles and a curse, sometimes two curses and a whistle, while all the time keeping faithfully to the tune of 'The Sailor's Grave' or another. It was a highly cultivated ...

— Here are Ladies • James Stephens

... woodwork. [1] Over this there lay a crust of plaster, about the eighth of a cubit in thickness, carefully modelled for the flesh of the Colossus. Lastly, I prepared a great number of moulds in separate pieces to compose the figure, intending to dovetail them together in accordance with the rules of art; and this task involved ...

— The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini • Benvenuto Cellini

... order by beginning with a striking incident and then going back to relate the events that led up to it. This method of beginning in medias res is a device well recognized in fiction. In exposition the normal order is to proceed from the known to the unknown, to dovetail the new facts into those already ...

— How To Write Special Feature Articles • Willard Grosvenor Bleyer

... base to the occlusal surface; in most of these cases the occlusal grooves or pits would have to be excavated on account of caries; thus there would be additional opportunity for anchorage. In place of the grooves the cavity may be of the dovetail form. In nearly all proximal cavities in bicuspids and molars, some form of metal shield, or matrix, is of great advantage, as they prevent the tin from crushing or sliding out. By driving the tin firmly against the ...

— Tin Foil and Its Combinations for Filling Teeth • Henry L. Ambler

... normal phrase on such occasions (there is always a "dovetail" de rigueur) "Allah ...

— The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 3 • Richard F. Burton