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
Yuki Noguchi, NPR, 22 June 2026
The plans for Waterbury church campus, which includes supportive housing and other community services, dovetail with what the Northwest Regional Workforce Investment Board hopes to accomplish there.
—Kenneth R. Gosselin, Hartford Courant, 14 June 2026
Bill Barrow, Los Angeles Times, 17 June 2026
Ambitious player signings have dovetailed with bold steps off the pitch.
—Megan Feringa, New York Times, 17 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for dovetail
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Noun
Improvements in blood tests, meanwhile, dovetail with rapid developments in treatments for various cancers, making the disease ever more survivable or even curable.
—Yuki Noguchi, NPR, 22 June 2026
The plans for Waterbury church campus, which includes supportive housing and other community services, dovetail with what the Northwest Regional Workforce Investment Board hopes to accomplish there.
—Kenneth R. Gosselin, Hartford Courant, 14 June 2026
Verb
But in Southern states, especially, party loyalty dovetails considerably with race and ethnicity.
—Bill Barrow, Los Angeles Times, 17 June 2026
Ambitious player signings have dovetailed with bold steps off the pitch.
—Megan Feringa, New York Times, 17 June 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 24 Jun. 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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