Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Dovetail \Dove"tail`\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Dovetailed}; p. pr.
   & vb. n. {Dovetailing}.]
   1. (Carp.)
      (a) To cut to a dovetail.
      (b) To join by means of dovetails.

   2. To fit in or connect strongly, skillfully, or nicely; to
      fit ingeniously or complexly.

            He put together a piece of joinery so crossly
            indented and whimsically dovetailed . . . that it
            was indeed a very curious show.       --Burke.

Dovetail \Dove"tail`\, n. (Carp.)
   A flaring tenon, or tongue (shaped like a bird's tail
   spread), and a mortise, or socket, into which it fits
   tightly, making an interlocking joint between two pieces
   which resists pulling a part in all directions except one.

   {Dovetail molding} (Arch.), a molding of any convex section
      arranged in a sort of zigzag, like a series of dovetails.
      

   {Dovetail saw} (Carp.), a saw used in dovetailing.

Source : WordNet®

dovetail
     n : a mortise joint formed by interlocking tenons and mortises
         [syn: {dovetail joint}]

dovetail
     v : fit together tightly, as if by means of a dovetail