adjoin
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to be close to or in contact with; abut on.
His property adjoins the lake.
-
to attach or append; affix.
verb (used without object)
verb
-
to be next to (an area of land, etc)
-
to join; affix or attach
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
adjoinsimple
-
adjoinssimple
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have adjoinedperfect
-
has adjoinedperfect
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am adjoiningprogressive
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are adjoiningprogressive
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is adjoiningprogressive
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have been adjoiningperfect progressive
-
has been adjoiningperfect progressive
Past
-
adjoinedsimple
-
had adjoinedperfect
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was adjoiningprogressive
-
were adjoiningprogressive
-
had been adjoiningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of adjoin
1275–1325; Middle English a ( d ) joinen < Middle French ajoindre. See ad-, join
Explanation
Things that adjoin are next to each other or share a boundary. Two adjoining states are neighbors. The United States adjoins Canada. Just as the word join suggests togetherness, things that adjoin are together in a specific way. They're adjacent, which means they're butting right up against one other. Two adjoining buildings are connected or next-door neighbors. Two adjoining states share a border. If two rooms adjoin, they are connected by a door or they share a wall. When things adjoin, they have a physical connection.
Vocabulary lists containing adjoin
Close Encounters: Synonyms for "Near"
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The Dawes Act
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The Marrow Thieves
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Both areas adjoin waste land leading to the entrance to the tunnel system where Noah's body was found.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026
Both major projects will adjoin the new transport infrastructure.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 18, 2023
Some of our homes adjoin this open space.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 2, 2017
Their priority continues to be preventing the fire from leaping out of the park’s boundaries and into the small communities that adjoin its western edge.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 21, 2016
Sturdy red bricks adjoin pale stone accented by ornamental flourishes.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
Kei Nakai says he’ll miss the most his parents’ home — a skinny, green two-story building that adjoins the nursery on Grevillea Avenue.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2025
The gushing water from the river wreaked havoc on the Chungthang village, which adjoins its banks.
From BBC ● Dec. 11, 2023
The Barents Sea, which adjoins the Arctic Ocean, is one of the most productive oceanic areas in the world and home to an enormous diversity of organisms.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2023
Trains will make eight stops between Redmond Technology Station, which adjoins the Microsoft campus, and South Bellevue Station, which is equipped with a new 1,500-stall park-and-ride garage.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 24, 2023
The jail contains six cells; the sixth, the one reserved for female prisoners, is actually an isolated unit situated inside the Sheriff’s Residence—indeed, it adjoins the Meiers’ kitchen.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
If data centers occupy the caverns, any improper water management or heat discharge could quickly become an immediate risk to adjoined residential neighborhoods.
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2023
So I went to my room, that adjoined Father’s, and wasted time on my phone screen, and thought how I could be doing this at home, and fell asleep.
From Slate ● Dec. 29, 2020
It was a 24-hour car service facility and parking structure for the theater and adjoined Pellissier Building office tower and shops.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2020
They’d been adjoined ever since Francis snapped up DeBoer nearly a year ahead of schedule the summer of 2020.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 31, 2019
Jefferson noticed that Washington seemed “unusually reticent” about his choice, probably because Mount Vernon adjoined the site and Washington also owned considerable acreage within its borders.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
In the adjoining Avila region a little further west, another inferno raging since last week has become the biggest since Spain's records began in 1961, burning 50,000 hectares.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
France has evacuated 250,000 people from at-risk areas, mostly in the Gironde region but also in the adjoining Landes region, where another wildfire was "better contained but not yet stopped", according to authorities.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
LA28 plans to use nearly all of the soundstages, which are equipped with dedicated set lighting power, high-capacity silent air conditioning, high-speed wired and wireless internet, and adjoining production suites.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
Three indoor privies were lighted by skylights and ingeniously ventilated by a 150-foot-long lateral tunnel that drew in air and discharged it through adjoining chimneys, providing a continuous draft.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
At the time of the ballroom’s being built, suppers had not been in question; and a small card-room adjoining, was the only addition.
From "Emma" by Jane Austen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
