DOVETAIL n.
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 s…
DRUID n.
A member of a social and benevolent order, founded in London in 1781, and professedly based on the traditions of the ancient Druids. Lodges or groves of the society are established in other countries. Druid stones, a name given, in the south of England, to weatherworn, rough pillars of gray sandstone scattered over the…
DUTCH a.
fiant gas; -- called also Dutch oil. It is so called because discovered (in 1795) by an association of four Hollandish chemists. See Ethylene, and Olefiant. -- Dutch oven, a tin screen for baking before an open fire or kitchen range; also, in the United States, a shallow iron kettle for baking, with a cover to hold bu…