dovetails

Noun

dovetail (plural dovetails)

1. The tail of a dove (family Columbidae); also, something having the shape of a dove's tail.
   • Beſides this, another fine Starfiſh came to my Hands, […] Its body hath ten corners, and it hath a Star above vvith as many Rays; each of theſe one may compare unto a Sail of the VVindmills that the Children run againſt the VVind vvithal, or to a piece of ſuch Croſſes that are broad before, and...1694, John Narborough; Jasmen Tasman [i.e., Abel Tasman]; John Wood; Frederick Marten [i.e., Friedrich Martens], “[The Voyage into Spitzbergen and Greenland] Of the Crustaceous Fish that I Observed”...
2. (attributive, often) In full dovetail joint: a type of joint where adjoining components are fastened by multiple tenons cut into wedge shapes resembling a dove's tail, which interlock with mortises having corresponding shapes.
   • [T]heſe muſt be joined at Bottom to the Piles by a ſtrong Dove-tail, and the Piles joined vvith Braces; […]1733, Philip Miller, “WINE-PRESS”, in The Gardeners Dictionary: […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: […] C[harles] Rivington, […], →OCLC, column 1

   Synonyms:

   culvertail, fantail, swallowtail

3. (attributive, often) A tenon cut into a wedge shape resembling a dove's tail so that it interlocks with a mortise having a corresponding shape in a dovetail joint.
4. A line resembling a dovetail joint (sense 2.1).
   • I ſhall add other tvvo Forms of Lines, […] The firſt of theſe tvvo is termed Patee, or Dove-Tail, from a Form of Art uſed by Joiners, vvho make Joints one into the other by that Name: […]1722, Alexander Nisbet, “Of the Points and Parts of the Shield; and Forms of Lines, which Divide the Shield into Several Parts”, in A System of Heraldry Speculative and Practical: […], Edinburgh: […]...

See all 10 meanings of dovetail