rabbet
Americannoun
-
a deep notch formed in or near one edge of a board, framing timber, etc., so that something else can be fitted into it or so that a door or the like can be closed against it.
-
a broad groove let into the surface of a board or the like; dado.
verb (used with object)
-
to cut a rabbet in (a board or the like).
-
to join (boards or the like) by means of a rabbet or rabbets.
verb (used without object)
noun
-
a recess, groove, or step, usually of rectangular section, cut into a surface or along the edge of a piece of timber to receive a mating piece
-
a joint made between two pieces of timber using a rabbet
verb
-
to cut or form a rabbet in (timber)
-
to join (pieces of timber) using a rabbet
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of rabbet
1350–1400; Middle English rabet < Old French rabat, derivative of rabattre to beat back, beat down; see rebate 1
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 carpenter's dependence on this tool lessened only after the perfection of multipurpose metallic planes that could be readily converted to cut a "rabbet."
From Woodworking Tools 1600-1900 by Peter C. Welsh
As with the plow and the rabbet, its shape is ubiquitous.
From Woodworking Tools 1600-1900 by Peter C. Welsh
I promised Allworthy already to give up half my estate—od rabbet it!
From History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding
The sliding section is not always necessary, as in a narrow rabbet or bead.
From Handwork in Wood by William Noyes
Daniel D. Whitker patented a combination saw and rabbet plane little different from one illustrated by André-Jacob Roubo in his L'Art du menuisier in 1769.
From Woodworking Tools 1600-1900 by Peter C. Welsh
Nigh to this, again, was a square building of rabbeted stones, equal to almost the largest in the walls of Jerusalem.
From Byeways in Palestine by James Finn
The end rails should be rabbeted on the inside for the latticework and the glass.
From Mission Furniture How to Make It, Part 2 by H. H. (Henry Haven) Windsor
The corners are mitered and the backs rabbeted to receive the panels.
From Mission Furniture How to Make It, Part I by H. H. (Henry Haven) Windsor
All the masonry, except the rabbeted work, is constructed from the dark basalt which abounds in that district.
From Byeways in Palestine by James Finn
The back rails should, in addition, be rabbeted for the back board as shown.
From Mission Furniture How to Make It, Part 2 by H. H. (Henry Haven) Windsor
"All you need is one reasonably respectable wife," says Public Relations Wizard Gig Young, rabbeting in a plot gimmick designed to keep a flapdoodle comedy from collapsing in the first reel.
From Time Magazine Archive
![]()
These included "Planing, moulding, rabbeting, grooving, mortising, and sawing, both in coarse and fine work, in curved, winding, and transverse directions, and shaping wood in complicated forms."
From Inventions in the Century by William Henry Doolittle
Instead of rabbeting the mirror frame, a 1/4 by 3/8-in. fillet of oak is nailed around to form the recess, the walnut frame and oak fillet making a pretty contrast.
From Mission Furniture How to Make It, Part 2 by H. H. (Henry Haven) Windsor
The sides are to be built up separately, the corners being lapped and glued after rabbeting the under arrises sufficient to let the glass in.
From Mission Furniture How to Make It, Part 2 by H. H. (Henry Haven) Windsor
A ledge and miter or lipped miter joint is made by rabbeting and mitering the boards to be joined so that the outer portion of the two boards meet in a miter.
From Handwork in Wood by William Noyes
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.