tenon
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
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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
Cut tenons on the end rails and rabbet them and the side pieces for the panels.
From Mission Furniture How to Make It, Part 2 by Windsor, H. H. (Henry Haven)
There are four spokes, each two palms wide and a palm and a digit thick; their length, excluding the tenons, being two feet and three digits.
From De Re Metallica, Translated from the First Latin Edition of 1556 by Agricola, Georgius
Again, mortises, tenons, dovetails, and joinery of all sorts, no longer demand from hand-work the accuracy, neatness, and perfection of former days.
From British Manufacturing Industries Pottery, Glass and Silicates, Furniture and Woodwork. by Arnoux, L.
And he would have put some life into those iron tenons.
From On the Old Road Vol. 1 (of 2) A Collection of Miscellaneous Essays and Articles on Art and Literature by Ruskin, John
The lower horizontals or stretchers are to be tenoned through the posts and keyed.
From Mission Furniture How to Make It, Part 3 by Windsor, H. H. (Henry Haven)
The posts are to be tenoned on the upper ends.
From Mission Furniture How to Make It, Part I by Windsor, H. H. (Henry Haven)
The two short posts are tenoned and mortises cut in the bottom piece for joints and these joints well glued together.
From Mission Furniture How to Make It, Part I by Windsor, H. H. (Henry Haven)
This bearer is tenoned to the back post.
From The Boy Mechanic: Volume 1 700 Things for Boys to Do by Popular Mechanics Co.
And now all the structures of the great Scripture were tenoned in his brain; so that he knew the frame of every part, but the inner meanings of more and more marvellous dimension seemed inexhaustible.
From Fate Knocks at the Door A Novel by Comfort, Will Levington
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
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 Fairham, William
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 Zerbe, James Slough
This will necessitate care in mortising and tenoning the side rails so as to get good fits for the shoulders The bevel square will be needed in laying out the shoulders of the tenons.
From Mission Furniture How to Make It, Part 2 by Windsor, H. H. (Henry Haven)
The carpenter's shop is likewise supplied with necessary machine tools, such as saws, planers, tenoning machine, whittlers, etc., the power being furnished by the machine shop.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 446, July 19, 1884 by Various
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.
