Definition of "mortise"

mortise

/ˈmɔː(ɹ).tɪs/

noun
plural mortises
1. (woodworking) A hole that is made to receive a tenon so as to form a joint.
  Quotations
  If there is much gauging for the same size mortise and tenon to be done, and if a mortise gauge is not handy, a simple improvised gauge for the purpose can easily be made with two pieces of wood and four or five steel sprigs…
  2016 September 6, A Little Book of Woodworking Joints - Including Dovetailing, Mortise-and-Tenon and Mitred Joints, 2nd edition (paperback), Read Books Limited
  A keyed mortise-and-tenon joint is constructed the same as a doweled mortise and tenon joint except that the tenon projects far enough through the mortise to admit the insertion of a tapering key which draws the mortised piece firmly against the shoulder of the tenon.
  1918, Herman Frederick Rusch, Shop Work, Joinery-cabinet-making-carpentry, Chicago, Illinois, United States: University of Chicago Press, page 56
2. Stability; power of adhesion.
verb
third-person singular simple present mortises, present participle mortising, simple past and past participle mortised
1. (transitive, woodworking) To cut a mortise in.
  Quotations
  A keyed mortise-and-tenon joint is constructed the same as a doweled mortise and tenon joint except that the tenon projects far enough through the mortise to admit the insertion of a tapering key which draws the mortised piece firmly against the shoulder of the tenon.
  1918, Herman Frederick Rusch, Shop Work, Joinery-cabinet-making-carpentry, Chicago, Illinois, United States: University of Chicago Press, page 56
2. (transitive, woodworking) To join by a mortise and tenon.
3. (typography) To adjust the horizontal space between selected pairs of letters; to kern.

Definition of "mortise"

mortise

noun

Quotations

verb

Quotations