tenon
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
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tenons,
present (3rd person singular)
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tenoned,
past participle, past
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tenoning
present participle
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to provide with a tenon.
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to join by or as by a tenon.
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to join securely.
noun
verb
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to form a tenon on (a piece of wood)
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to join with a tenon and mortise
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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tenonsimple
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tenonssimple
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have tenonedperfect
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has tenonedperfect
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am tenoningprogressive
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are tenoningprogressive
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is tenoningprogressive
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have been tenoningperfect progressive
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has been tenoningperfect progressive
Past
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tenonedsimple
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had tenonedperfect
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was tenoningprogressive
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were tenoningprogressive
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had been tenoningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tenon
1400–50; late Middle English < Middle French, equivalent to ten ( ir ) to hold (< Latin tenēre ) + -on noun suffix
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:
Instead, posts and beams were fitted together with mortise and tenon joints.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 28, 2020
Woodwork with mortise and tenon joints, original and restored hardware and tile-faced fireplaces are found throughout the nearly 6,000 square feet of living space.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 24, 2020
Thick hand-hewn oak beams connected with slotted and tabbed mortise and tenon joints provide the bones of the building, which has deliberately been left unfurnished to showcase its construction.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 19, 2015
"You can get good at the mortise and tenon joints but without the spark to power your tool in the first place, you can't make the table."
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2013
I see new words that sound cool like dado and kerf and tenon and mortise.
From "Mockingbird" by Kathryn Erskine
The timbers were fastened together by the mortice-and-tenon method; holes called mortices were cut, into which the tongues or tenons of other pieces would then fit.
From "Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction" by David Macaulay
A movable pillar which rests on its upper shoulder against a beam, with the lower tenons into the deck, and standing at an angle of 15° forward.
From The Sailor's Word-Book An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, including Some More Especially Military and Scientific, but Useful to Seamen; as well as Archaisms of Early Voyagers, etc. by Sir Edward Belcher
Lay out the tenons on the ends of the front and back rails in the same manner.
From Mission Furniture How to Make It, Part 2 by H. H. (Henry Haven) Windsor
In order to obtain piers capable of withstanding the current during the great floods, it was better too to use blocks of considerable weight, which could be held together by metal tenons or clasps.
From A History of Art in Chaldæa & Assyria, v. 1 by Sir Walter Armstrong
The flooring of this bridge, like that of many others in the county, is formed of thick planks, which are kept firm in their places by tenons, or rather wedges of wood.
From A Tour throughout South Wales and Monmouthshire by J. T. Barber
Their testimony mortised and tenoned in a way to rejoice a cabinet-maker's heart.
From By Advice of Counsel by Arthur Cheney Train
The reason for this is obvious—it is a difficult matter to fit two or more pieces between fixed parts when their ends are tenoned.
From Mission Furniture How to Make It, Part 3 by H. H. (Henry Haven) Windsor
Arm Chair Complete The slats, or verticals, of the back should not have their ends tenoned but should have the mortises in the rails cut sufficiently large to "let in" the whole end of each.
From Mission Furniture How to Make It, Part 2 by H. H. (Henry Haven) Windsor
A slip-joint or end or open mortise-and-tenon is what would remain if a mortised member were sawn off along one side of the tenoned member.
From Handwork in Wood by William Noyes
The shoulder of any tenon may be undercut so as to allow the edges of the tenoned piece to close up tight against the mortised piece.
From Handwork in Wood by William Noyes
In Thicket, 1990, his intersections run free variations on the notching, lapping and tenoning of practical carpentry in order to generate a curved form with straight balks of pine.
From Time Magazine Archive
In tenoning machines, the lengths of the pieces usually operated upon render it necessary that the work should lie horizontally upon the table, while the shortness of the tenon makes an automatic feed unnecessary.
From Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II by Joshua Rose
The method of mitreing the moulding and tenoning the stile to rail is indicated.
From Woodwork Joints How they are Set Out, How Made and Where Used. by William Fairham
The illustration shows the method of tenoning the three pieces to the top rail, barefaced tenons being employed.
From Woodwork Joints How they are Set Out, How Made and Where Used. by William Fairham
Cogged Joints.—This differs from the regular tenoning and mortising methods, principally because the groove or recess is in the form of an open gain.
From Carpentry for Boys In a Simple Language, Including Chapters on Drawing, Laying Out Work, Designing and Architecture With 250 Original Illustrations by James Slough Zerbe
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