adjoin
Americanverb (used with object)
-
adjoins,
present (3rd person singular)
-
adjoined,
past participle, past
-
adjoining
present participle
-
to be close to or in contact with; abut on.
His property adjoins the lake.
-
to attach or append; affix.
verb (used without object)
-
adjoins,
present (3rd person singular)
-
adjoined,
past participle, past
-
adjoining
present participle
verb
-
to be next to (an area of land, etc)
-
to join; affix or attach
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
adjoinsimple
-
adjoinssimple
-
have adjoinedperfect
-
has adjoinedperfect
-
am adjoiningprogressive
-
are adjoiningprogressive
-
is adjoiningprogressive
-
have been adjoiningperfect progressive
-
has been adjoiningperfect progressive
Past
-
adjoinedsimple
-
had adjoinedperfect
-
was adjoiningprogressive
-
were adjoiningprogressive
-
had been adjoiningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of adjoin
1275–1325; Middle English a ( d ) joinen < Middle French ajoindre. See ad-, join
Explanation
Things that adjoin are next to each other or share a boundary. Two adjoining states are neighbors. The United States adjoins Canada. Just as the word join suggests togetherness, things that adjoin are together in a specific way. They're adjacent, which means they're butting right up against one other. Two adjoining buildings are connected or next-door neighbors. Two adjoining states share a border. If two rooms adjoin, they are connected by a door or they share a wall. When things adjoin, they have a physical connection.
Vocabulary lists containing adjoin
Close Encounters: Synonyms for "Near"
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The Dawes Act
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The Marrow Thieves
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The witness was also asked by the lawyer about safety issues that could have arisen for local families whose back gardens adjoin the waste ground where the culvert is located.
From BBC ● May 8, 2026
About 20% are protected nature areas, like the mountains covered with pine and fir forests that adjoin the neighboring state of Morelos.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 27, 2023
Some of our homes adjoin this open space.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 2, 2017
Their priority continues to be preventing the fire from leaping out of the park’s boundaries and into the small communities that adjoin its western edge.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 21, 2016
This 'dining hall' where I now sit, however, is a modem annexe built to adjoin the main building - a long, flat room characterized by rows of large windows on either side.
From "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro
Lane added that the development would not affect Burlish Top Nature Reserve, which adjoins the Meadows.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
Kei Nakai says he’ll miss the most his parents’ home — a skinny, green two-story building that adjoins the nursery on Grevillea Avenue.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2025
The Barents Sea, which adjoins the Arctic Ocean, is one of the most productive oceanic areas in the world and home to an enormous diversity of organisms.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2023
“We feel that enough’s enough,” said Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, one of the most vulnerable first-term Republicans, who represents a New York district that adjoins Santos’.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 12, 2023
Since the living room adjoins his—Joseph and David’s—room, I opened the door so the fire would warm it, too.
From "Z for Zachariah" by Robert C. O’Brien
If data centers occupy the caverns, any improper water management or heat discharge could quickly become an immediate risk to adjoined residential neighborhoods.
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2023
A few years later, Pfeiffer designed an adjacent student housing tower and adjoined the two facilities with a courtyard and dining commons envisioned as an open-air campus amid skyscrapers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2023
So I went to my room, that adjoined Father’s, and wasted time on my phone screen, and thought how I could be doing this at home, and fell asleep.
From Slate ● Dec. 29, 2020
They’d been adjoined ever since Francis snapped up DeBoer nearly a year ahead of schedule the summer of 2020.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 31, 2019
Inside the second room a table had been brought up close to the wall which adjoined the drawing room.
From "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie
They were among an estimated 800,000 faithful who lined the Champs Elysees and adjoining streets in Paris on Saturday to welcome the leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics for a giant open-air mass.
From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026
On the adjoining estate, more than a dozen homes have boarded-up windows.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
The adjoining barn on the property was transformed into a guesthouse, and Seyfried has focused on passing on her love for animals to her two children: Nina, 8, and Thomas, 5.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026
The organization has partnered with the city on the campus’ redesign since 2012, when planning began to incorporate a vacant lot adjoining the towers into the campus.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
“And you think he went back into the adjoining compartment?”
From "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
