rabbet
Americannoun
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a deep notch formed in or near one edge of a board, framing timber, etc., so that something else can be fitted into it or so that a door or the like can be closed against it.
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a broad groove let into the surface of a board or the like; dado.
verb (used with object)
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to cut a rabbet in (a board or the like).
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to join (boards or the like) by means of a rabbet or rabbets.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a recess, groove, or step, usually of rectangular section, cut into a surface or along the edge of a piece of timber to receive a mating piece
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a joint made between two pieces of timber using a rabbet
verb
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to cut or form a rabbet in (timber)
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to join (pieces of timber) using a rabbet
Other Word Forms
- unrabbeted adjective
Etymology
Origin of rabbet
1350–1400; Middle English rabet < Old French rabat, derivative of rabattre to beat back, beat down; see rebate 1
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.
After the hollowing out is completed, a rabbet one-eighth of an inch wide and deep is cut to receive the deck, its outer line being g h i k, Fig.
From Harper's Young People, April 6, 1880 An Illustrated Weekly by Various
It also fits into a rabbet on the upper back side of the shelf.
From Handwork in Wood by Noyes, William
Why, why? and where man, have you been? at a Poulters That you are cas'd thus like a rabbet?
From The Little French Lawyer A Comedy by Beaumont, Francis
The carpenter's dependence on this tool lessened only after the perfection of multipurpose metallic planes that could be readily converted to cut a "rabbet."
From Woodworking Tools 1600-1900 by Welsh, Peter C.
Inherent in the bench planes is a feeling of motion, particularly in the plow and the rabbet where basic design alone conveys the idea that they were meant to move over fixed surfaces.
From Woodworking Tools 1600-1900 by Welsh, Peter C.
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.