adjoin
Americanverb (used with object)
-
adjoins,
present (3rd person singular)
-
adjoined,
past participle, past
-
adjoining
present participle
-
to be close to or in contact with; abut on.
His property adjoins the lake.
-
to attach or append; affix.
verb (used without object)
-
adjoins,
present (3rd person singular)
-
adjoined,
past participle, past
-
adjoining
present participle
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
-
have adjoinedperfect
-
has adjoinedperfect
-
am adjoiningprogressive
-
are adjoiningprogressive
-
is adjoiningprogressive
-
have been adjoiningperfect progressive
-
has been adjoiningperfect progressive
Past
-
adjoinedsimple
-
had adjoinedperfect
-
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
"My responsibility is to make sure all of this lot get paid," he says, referring to his 30-strong team, which includes bakers, delivery drivers and Saturday staff employed in the cafe that adjoins the bakery.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
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 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
“We feel that enough’s enough,” said Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, one of the most vulnerable first-term Republicans, who represents a New York district that adjoins Santos’.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 12, 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
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, a Democrat whose district would have adjoined Ryan’s.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 11, 2022
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
We walk into the adjoined bathroom, and I sit on the edge of the tub.
From "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth
On the adjoining estate, more than a dozen homes have boarded-up windows.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
The adjoining barn on the property was transformed into a guesthouse, and Seyfried has focused on passing on her love for animals to her two children: Nina, 8, and Thomas, 5.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026
The change in elevation from the waterfront at sea level to Genoa’s mountainous hinterland approaches 6,000 feet, and variations between adjoining neighborhoods can be as much as several hundred feet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
In the adjoining Avila region, 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. 31, 2026
For the first hour or so Lyddie watched, trying mostly to stay out of Diana’s way as she moved among the three machines, two opposite and one adjoining.
From "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson
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.
