mortise
Americannoun
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a notch, hole, groove, or slot made in a piece of wood or the like to receive a tenon of the same dimensions.
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a deep recess cut into wood for any of several other purposes, as for receiving a mortise lock.
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Printing. a space cut out of a plate, especially for the insertion of type or another plate.
verb (used with object)
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mortises,
present (3rd person singular)
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mortised,
past participle, past
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mortising
present participle
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to secure with a mortise and tenon
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to cut or form a mortise in (a piece of wood or the like).
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to join securely.
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Printing.
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to cut metal from (a plate).
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to cut out metal from a plate and insert (new material) in its place.
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noun
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a slot or recess, usually rectangular, cut into a piece of wood, stone, etc, to receive a matching projection (tenon) of another piece, or a mortise lock
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printing a cavity cut into a letterpress printing plate into which type or another plate is inserted
verb
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to cut a slot or recess in (a piece of wood, stone, etc)
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to join (two pieces of wood, stone, etc) by means of a mortise and tenon
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to cut a cavity in (a letterpress printing plate) for the insertion of type, etc
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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mortisesimple
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mortisessimple
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have mortisedperfect
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has mortisedperfect
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am mortisingprogressive
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are mortisingprogressive
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is mortisingprogressive
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have been mortisingperfect progressive
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has been mortisingperfect progressive
Past
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mortisedsimple
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had mortisedperfect
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was mortisingprogressive
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were mortisingprogressive
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had been mortisingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of mortise
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English morteys, mortaise, from Anglo-French mortais(e), Old French mortoise; of obscure origin
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:
Instead, posts and beams were fitted together with mortise and tenon joints.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 28, 2020
Woodwork with mortise and tenon joints, original and restored hardware and tile-faced fireplaces are found throughout the nearly 6,000 square feet of living space.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 24, 2020
There are two basic types of latches: tubular and mortise.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 22, 2019
Thick hand-hewn oak beams connected with slotted and tabbed mortise and tenon joints provide the bones of the building, which has deliberately been left unfurnished to showcase its construction.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 19, 2015
I see new words that sound cool like dado and kerf and tenon and mortise.
From "Mockingbird" by Kathryn Erskine
Unmortise, un-mor′tis, v.t. to loosen the mortises or joints of.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various
Near the upper end are two mortises, each 2x4 inches, quite through the post, one above the other, as shown in the engraving, for the reception of the horizontal arms.
From Home Pork Making by A. W. Fulton
Table Complete The shelf should be finished on the top side and the four edges, and the corners cut out to fit the mortises in the table legs.
From Mission Furniture How to Make It, Part 2 by H. H. (Henry Haven) Windsor
Lay out and cut the mortises on the end pieces for the tenons of the shelf, also the tenons on the top ends and the diamond shaped openings.
From Mission Furniture How to Make It, Part 2 by H. H. (Henry Haven) Windsor
After this operation is performed on one cog, it should be tried in the wheel mortises, to test its correctness before cutting out the shanks on all the teeth.
From Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II by Joshua Rose
There was the strange commercial released by his loyal sponsor Nike, in which a rigor mortised Mr. Woods received counsel from the disembodied voice of his late father, Earl.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 12, 2010
Smoothly mortised and joined by Director Ted Tetzlaff and Producer Frederic Ullman Jr., The Window emerges as a fast little thriller full of grade A qualities.
From Time Magazine Archive
It is carved entirely by means of a jackknife, and the sighting bars are also whittled to shape and mortised permanently into the frame.
From Early American Scientific Instruments and Their Makers by Silvio A. Bedini
It was far stronger than the one in the galley cabin, and had been set within the wood and mortised so that only a small, flat keyhole showed.
From The Ice Pilot by Henry Leverage
From the upright timber near the upper small cross-beam, which at its other end is mortised into the crane-post, are two mortised bars.
From De Re Metallica, Translated from the First Latin Edition of 1556 by Georgius Agricola
The canvas is now tacked on the end pieces and the pieces given one turn before placing the mortising together.
From The Boy Mechanic: Volume 1 700 Things for Boys to Do by Popular Mechanics Co.
McGuire brought with him two carpet-bags, a marlin spike and a common mortising chisel.
From Bucholz and the Detectives by Allan Pinkerton
The doors are now made by mortising the top and bottom pieces to take the 3/8-in. panel which is glued in place.
From Mission Furniture How to Make It, Part 2 by H. H. (Henry Haven) Windsor
Mortising Puzzle.—The ordinary mortising exercise is, after the first two or three attempts, generally voted as uninteresting, but, although the simple puzzle shown in Fig.
From Woodwork Joints How they are Set Out, How Made and Where Used. by William Fairham
For this purpose a rather small chisel of the kind known among cabinet makers as a mortising chisel will be required.
From The Repairing & Restoration of Violins 'The Strad' Library, No. XII. by Horace Petherick
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.
