Home British & World English bevel

Definition of bevel in English:

bevel

noun

  • 1A slope from the horizontal or vertical in carpentry and stonework; a sloping surface or edge.

    ‘a very small 45° bevel is ground on the top surface’
    • ‘Standard redwood patterns include: tongue & groove, bevel, rabbeted bevel, shiplap, channel shiplap and V shiplap.’
    • ‘The older picture showed an aluminium-hued casing with rounded corners and a screen bevel sloping away to the edge of the unit.’
    • ‘They should be trimmed to 4-5 inches wide with a 35-degree bevel on one edge.’
    • ‘When only the face of the object shows, make your cut at a slight back bevel, so the edge that shows makes contact before the back edge, which does not show.’
    • ‘Push toward and diagonally across the sharp edge, maintaining the factory bevel.’
    • ‘The trail is composed of four belts: a smooth double furrow in the middle and gently sloped convex outer lateral bevels on both sides, with relatively rough surface.’
    • ‘Angle the blade against the stone until you think you're contacting the edge bevel, then push the blade lightly along as if you were trying to slice off a paper-thin wafer of stone.’
    • ‘For best results, design metal reference surfaces to interface with polished surfaces on lenses rather than with ground rims or bevels; you will then use the most accurately made surfaces for lens positioning.’
    • ‘Standard compound saws work like typical miter saws, but the motor and blade tip sideways, making them capable of cutting bevels.’
    • ‘The bevels refract light and provide a jeweled rainbow of light.’
    • ‘Cut 45 degree bevels on the front corners of the molding, measuring carefully.’
    • ‘Sharpen pruner blades by swiping them over the whetstone in a curved motion, trying to maintain their original bevel.’
    • ‘For a real contrast, the bevel can even be done in a different material altogether, such as wood strips or even thin strips of brass.’
    • ‘Measure carefully, taking into account the bevel on the bottom sash, and you should be able to trim the new sash to fit the old frame.’
    • ‘The cut side without the bevel and flange must rest on the wall molding.’
    • ‘Specifically, if the tip edge is catching, and your ski is tuned flat, it can be that the edge is too sharp up toward the tip, or you don't have enough edge bevel.’
    • ‘Lacking a buffer, you can use a fine diamond stone on that back side, just be sure to leave the surface flat - don't induce a bevel or you'll dull the points of the serrations.’
    • ‘If the frame has a complete rim surrounding the lens, a bevel, or ridge, is cut along the edge of the lens that will fit into a groove in the frame; otherwise, the edge is left flat.’
    • ‘You must cut the board at a 10-to 15-degree bevel so you can insert the groove over the last tongue and pivot the other edge of it into place without damaging the adjacent wall.’
    • ‘But the edge can also be a curve, ogee, or a simple bevel.’
    slope, slant, angle, cant, chamfer, mitre, oblique, diagonal, tilt
    View synonyms
    1. 1.1A tool for marking angles in carpentry and stonework.
      • ‘Where the skirting board butts up against a doorframe, check that the angle is true and, if not, use a sliding bevel to measure the angle of the cut and mark on the board.’
      • ‘Perhaps the simplest form of edging is to take a shovel and bevel and edge all around the garden.’
      • ‘He states that early Chinese plane blades were sharpened with two bevels, the front bevel requiring a lower iron mounting angle.’
      • ‘Get the all angles side bevel tool for all the bevels you need in one handy tool.’
      • ‘Set a sliding bevel square to the preferred angle with a protractor, hold the square against the post, and mark it. Then cut along the line with a handsaw’

verbbevels, bevelling, bevelled; US beveling, beveled

[with object]often as adjective bevelled

  • Reduce (a square edge on an object) to a sloping edge.

    ‘a bevelled mirror’
    • ‘The quality and finish of the cooler is very good, the base is smooth and the edges are even bevelled nicely.’
    • ‘If the chips are quite minor, it should be possible to have them ground down and polished out, or the edges could be bevelled out.’
    • ‘Planes are for removing very thin layers of wood, for trimming and smoothing, for straightening edges or beveling them, and even for adding a groove.’
    • ‘Hedge shears, like bypass pruners, also work like scissors; the cutting blade is beveled on the inside edge.’
    • ‘Shovels, spades, hoes, and trowels are usually sold with roughly beveled edges.’
    • ‘The process involves mounting a poster to a fiberboard, overlaminating it with a clear finish and beveling the edge with a colored foil.’
    • ‘I broke the sharp corners and beveled the edges to make the slide stop more user-friendly.’
    • ‘Its edges are beveled to prevent scuffing or damage when used on lawns or turf.’
    • ‘Pads should have beveled edges and a curled rear edge.’
    • ‘The ejection port is lowered and flared and the magazine well is bevelled.’
    • ‘Each of these pieces is a plate-thin, gracefully curving slab of porcelain, about a foot wide and 3 feet long, with sharply beveled edges, resting horizontally on a squat wooden support.’
    • ‘Any end joints should also be beveled with a miter cut.’
    • ‘Mirrors, which started out as simple and functional, became a hot trend in decorating when manufacturers added sandblasted and beveled characteristics.’
    • ‘In some railing designs, baluster ends are cambered or beveled for appearance.’
    • ‘As they coasted down the long drive, Pamela's eyes were filled with a vision of close-fitting grey stone, black slate roofs and bevelled, leaded glass.’
    • ‘Each electrode had a diameter between 6 and 12 pm laterally and was beveled diagonally to facilitate insertion into the tissue.’
    • ‘It contains points for arrows, alternately beveled knives for skinning, blades for cutting rawhide, and end scrapers for cleaning hides.’
    • ‘Flat cones are used for sites where treatment areas are predominantly flat, and beveled cones are used to treat areas that present themselves at an angle.’
    • ‘The ejection port is beveled at both the front and rear, not just the side, to give adequate clearance to ejecting brass.’
    • ‘Since the blade can be swung to each side and also tilted at the same time, these versatile saws can make compound cuts - a cut that is angled and beveled at the same time - with amazing ease and accuracy.’

Origin

Late 16th century (as an adjective in the sense ‘oblique’): from an Old French diminutive of baif ‘open-mouthed’, from baer ‘to gape’ (see bay).

Pronunciation

bevel

/ˈbɛv(ə)l/