Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Joinery \Join"er*y\, n. The art, or trade, of a joiner; the work of a joiner; doing the woodwork (as doors, stairs, etc.) necessary for the finishing of buildings.
A piece of joinery . . . whimsically dovetailed.
--Burke.
Wiktionary
n. 1 A factory producing wooden products such as tables, doors, and cabinets. 2 The work of the joiner.
WordNet
n. fine woodwork done by a joiner
the craft of a joiner [syn: cabinetmaking]
Wikipedia
Joinery may refer to:
- Joinery (woodworking)
- Joinery (historical), frame and panel construction
- Joinery, the work of the joiner, the fabrication and installation of fittings in buildings
Historically, joinery was the medieval development of frame and panel construction, as a means of coping with timber's movement owing to moisture changes. Framed panel construction was utilized in furniture making. The development of joinery gave rise to joyners, a group of woodworkers distinct from the carpenters and arkwrights (arks were an intermediate stage between a carpenter's boarded chest and a framed chest).
The original sense of joinery is only distantly related to woodworking joints, which are the work of carpenters. This new technique developed for several centuries and joiners started making more complex furniture and also paneled rooms. Cabinetmaking became its own distinct furniture-making trade too, so joiners (under that name) became more associated with the room paneling trade.
By the height of craft woodworking (late 18th century), carpenters, joiners and cabinetmakers were all distinct and would serve different apprenticeships.
Usage examples of "joinery".
The careful joinery and the lavish use of ornamental detail implied an equal concern for luxury and comfort below-decks.
France filched Italian joinery in the Renaissance, Flemish marquetry in the seventeenth century, English mahogany styles in the eighteenth and so on.
Her decks were snowy white, and they had replaced all the woodwork in the saloon bulkhead, a beautiful piece of joinery with which even I could find no fault.
The joinery is crude, and the finish shows the mark of an inexpert hand, but it is dear to her: an old friend returned in time of need, a symbol both of her achievement and her sacrifice.
The flame ran along the lines of joinery in the stonework, nibbling at block edges, making them drip turgidly down the walls.
In Hawaii he constructed a two-hulled vessel using modern tools, joinery and metalwork--including steel springs to reduce the racking strains on the connexions between the hulls, large sawn beams for keel plates, and nuts, bolts, and nails.
She turned away also, but to search the carriage with her eyes, the corners of the joinery, the places the cushions met the frame, the buttons tufting the cushions, seeing nothing, turning back toward her father to see the angry question in his face.
Janine repeated, running her fingers over the varnished teak joinery, and then bouncing experimentally on the couches.
But the millwork, the joinery, the floors and ceilings, all that will be similar unless you wish otherwise.