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
Christopher Tayler, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
Trump’s exhortations to the oil industry dovetail with a broader push to address cost-of-living concerns weighing heavily on Republicans’ bid to maintain control of Congress in November’s midterm elections.
—Bloomberg Wire, Dallas Morning News, 10 Jan. 2026
Melissa Ruggieri, USA Today, 4 Feb. 2026
The vision is primed to keep expanding, dovetailing with a number of upcoming events.
—Theresa Braine, New York Daily News, 1 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dovetail
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Noun
What makes An Awfully Big Adventure unique in her body of work is how perfectly both these features dovetail.
—Christopher Tayler, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
Trump’s exhortations to the oil industry dovetail with a broader push to address cost-of-living concerns weighing heavily on Republicans’ bid to maintain control of Congress in November’s midterm elections.
—Bloomberg Wire, Dallas Morning News, 10 Jan. 2026
Verb
The clever live production finds cool cat bassist Rick Savage thrumming out a solo before dovetailing into the song’s familiar opening riff, which gives Elliott enough time to dash to the top level of the theater to belt the evocative anthem.
—Melissa Ruggieri, USA Today, 4 Feb. 2026
The vision is primed to keep expanding, dovetailing with a number of upcoming events.
—Theresa Braine, New York Daily News, 1 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dovetail
Cite this Entry
“Dovetail.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dovetail. Accessed 6 Feb. 2026.
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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