dovetailed

[duhv-teyld]

adjective Heraldry.

noting a partition line or a charge, as an ordinary, having a series of indentations suggesting dovetails.

Origin of dovetailed

First recorded in 1715–25; dovetail + -ed³

dovetail

[duhv-teyl]

noun Carpentry.

a tenon broader at its end than at its base; pin.
a joint formed of one or more such tenons fitting tightly within corresponding mortises.

verb (used with or without object)

Carpentry. to join or fit together by means of a dovetail or dovetails.
to join or fit together compactly or harmoniously.

Origin of dovetail

First recorded in 1555–65; so named from its shape

Related formsdove·tail·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for dovetailed

harmonize, conform, coincide, jibe, correspond, accord, square, join, tally, unite, interlock, go, agree, match, mortise, sync, tenon

Examples from the Web for dovetailed

Contemporary Examples of dovetailed

The cellphone use among pedestrians has dovetailed insidiously with hyper-gentrification, Moss says.
The End of New York: How One Blog Tracks the Disappearance of a Vibrant City
Tim Teeman
August 6, 2014
“I think the Old-Fashioned craze has also dovetailed with a lot of drinkers coming back to whiskey,” Simonson says.
The Rise and Fall…and Rise Again of the Old-Fashioned
Allison McNearney
June 14, 2014
Obama's message was narrowly about peace, but it dovetailed with Molad's.
Meet The Israeli Left's New Ideas Factory
Ali Gharib
April 18, 2013
The segment was called “Swinging in the Suburbs,” and it dovetailed with a Newsweek cover story I wrote on unfaithful women.
The Hole in Our Lives
Lorraine Ali
November 20, 2009

Historical Examples of dovetailed

It is designed to make the dovetailed tongue as well as the groove.
Carpentry for Boys
J. S. Zerbe
The dovetailed ties are just as sound now as on the day of their insertion.
Harper's Young People, June 1, 1880
Various
I have never been able to understand how every bit has dovetailed with such exactness.
The Blind Spot
Austin Hall
Away with the mechanism of the polished, dovetailed, machine-made play of Dumas.
Iconoclasts
James Huneker
We had cut across the 180th meridian, where time is dovetailed.
The Pacific Triangle
Sydney Greenbie

British Dictionary definitions for dovetailed

dovetail

noun

a wedge-shaped tenon
Also called: dovetail joint a joint containing such tenons

verb

(tr) to join by means of dovetails
to fit or cause to fit together closely or neatlyhe dovetailed his arguments to the desired conclusion

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for dovetailed

dovetail

late 16c. (n.), 1650s (v.), from dove (n.) + tail. So called from resemblance of shape in the tenon or mortise of the joints to that of the bird’s tailfeather display. Related: Dovetailed.