mitre

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: Mi=tre

CIDE DICTIONARY

mitre, n. [F. mitre, fr. L. mitra headband, turban, Gr. .].

•  A covering for the head, worn on solemn occasions by bishops and other church dignitaries. It has been made in many forms, the present form being a lofty cap with two points or peaks.  Fairholt.  [1913 Webster]
•  The surface forming the beveled end or edge of a piece where a miter joint is made; also, a joint formed or a junction effected by two beveled ends or edges; a miter joint.  [1913 Webster]
•  A sort of base money or coin.  [1913 Webster]

Miter box (Carp. & Print.), an apparatus for guiding a handsaw at the proper angle in making a miter joint; esp., a wooden or metal trough with vertical kerfs in its upright sides, for guides. -- Miter dovetail (Carp.), a kind of dovetail for a miter joint in which there is only one joint line visible, and that at the angle. -- Miter gauge (Carp.), a gauge for determining the angle of a miter. -- Miter joint, a joint formed by pieces matched and united upon a line bisecting the angle of junction, as by the beveled ends of two pieces of molding or brass rule, etc. The term is used especially when the pieces form a right angle, such as the edges of a window frame, and the edge of each piece at the point of junction is cut at a 45Miter, 2. -- Miter shell (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of marine univalve shells of the genus Mitra. -- Miter square (Carp.), a bevel with an immovable arm at an angle of 45 -- Miter wheels, a pair of bevel gears, of equal diameter, adapted for working together, usually with their axes at right angles.

mitre, v. t. 

•  To place a miter upon; to adorn with a miter.  Milton.  [1913 Webster]
•  To match together, as two pieces of molding or brass rule on a line bisecting the angle of junction; to fit together in a miter joint.  [1913 Webster]
•  To bevel the ends or edges of, for the purpose of matching together at an angle.  [1913 Webster]

mitre, v. i. 

 To meet and match together, as two pieces of molding, on a line bisecting the angle of junction.  [1913 Webster]

mitre, n. & v. 

 See Miter.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

mitre, n. & v. (US miter)
--n.
1 a tall deeply-cleft head-dress worn by bishops and abbots, esp. as a symbol of office.
2 the joint of two pieces of wood or other material at an angle of 90°, such that the line of junction bisects this angle.
3 a diagonal join of two pieces of fabric that meet at a corner, made by folding.
--v.
1 tr. bestow the mitre on.
2 tr. & intr. join with a mitre.

Idiom

mitre-block (or board or box) a guide for a saw in cutting mitre-joints. mitre-wheels a pair of bevelled cog-wheels with teeth set at 45° and axes at right angles.

Derivative

mitred adj.

Etymology

ME f. OF f. L mitra f. Gk mitra girdle, turban