Illustration of dovetail
- 1 mortises
- 2 tenons
- 3 joint
: something resembling a dove's tail
especially
: a flaring tenon and a mortise into which it fits tightly making an interlocking joint between two pieces (as of wood)
dovetailed; dovetailing; dovetails
1
a
: to join by means of dovetails
b
: to cut to a dovetail
2
a
: to fit skillfully to form a whole
b
: to fit together with
: to fit together into a whole
Examples of dovetail in a Sentence
Verb
the Union and the Confederate accounts of the battle don't dovetail at all
Recent Examples on the Web
Randall Colburn, EW.com, 23 Apr. 2025
Her takeover dovetails with the gallery’s upcoming 50th anniversary and the debut of a new 5,000-square-foot extension wing in October.
—Phillip Valys, Sun Sentinel, 20 May 2025
Shomik Mukherjee, Mercury News, 6 June 2025
His comments dovetailed with remarks by aides, including Bessent, that yearly budget deficits could be more than halved.
—Arkansas Online, 2 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for dovetail
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Noun
The emphasis on family dovetails with a previous statement from showrunners Al Gough and Miles Millar that revealed the entire Addams family will be enrolling in Nevermore Academy this season.
—Randall Colburn, EW.com, 23 Apr. 2025
Her takeover dovetails with the gallery’s upcoming 50th anniversary and the debut of a new 5,000-square-foot extension wing in October.
—Phillip Valys, Sun Sentinel, 20 May 2025
Verb
The anecdote dovetails with one of Brown’s most important moves in his eight-year mayoral tenure: persuading voters in 1998 to change Oakland’s laws so that the mayor could skip City Council meetings and run the government separately.
—Shomik Mukherjee, Mercury News, 6 June 2025
His comments dovetailed with remarks by aides, including Bessent, that yearly budget deficits could be more than halved.
—Arkansas Online, 2 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for dovetail
Cite this Entry
“Dovetail.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dovetail. Accessed 18 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
dovetail
1 of 2 noun
dove·tail
-ˌtāl 
: something shaped like a dove's tail
especially
: a joint between two pieces (as of wood) formed by a wedge-shaped part that fits tightly into a wedge-shaped slot in the other piece
dovetail
2 of 2 verb1
a
: to join by means of dovetails
b
: to cut to a dovetail
2
: to fit skillfully together to form a whole
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