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
Tommy McArdle, PEOPLE, 28 Oct. 2025
The new Michigan data dovetails with other recent surveys that show ailing consumer health.
—Rob Wile, NBC news, 10 Oct. 2025
Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 19 Dec. 2025
This year’s nostalgia for Jane Austen interiors (which has also dovetailed with the return of the canopy bed and is not unrelated to the resurgence of perpetual girlhood) has put candlelit lighting back on the map, and retailers are meeting the moment with modern iterations of the antique.
—Julia Harrison, Architectural Digest, 17 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dovetail
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Noun
The pacing is tight, Oz has never looked better and the ties with Dorothy's tale dovetail satisfyingly.
—Tommy McArdle, PEOPLE, 28 Oct. 2025
The new Michigan data dovetails with other recent surveys that show ailing consumer health.
—Rob Wile, NBC news, 10 Oct. 2025
Verb
This response also dovetails with a broader recalibration of FedEx’s air freight strategy, one that goes well beyond a single fleet issue.
—Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 19 Dec. 2025
This year’s nostalgia for Jane Austen interiors (which has also dovetailed with the return of the canopy bed and is not unrelated to the resurgence of perpetual girlhood) has put candlelit lighting back on the map, and retailers are meeting the moment with modern iterations of the antique.
—Julia Harrison, Architectural Digest, 17 Dec. 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 20 Dec. 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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