nounplural noun dados

• 1The lower part of the wall of a room, below about waist height, when decorated differently from the upper part.

  ‘Wallcovering which covers the lower part of the wall, or dado, and ending at the chair rail height.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘This technique is best used on doors, paneling, dados, baseboards and also as a subtle wall finish.’
  • ‘The room had dark wood panelling, cream paint above the dado, a muted silver ceiling, and comfortably padded brown leather chairs.’
  • ‘In this period wallpapers were conceived as an ensemble of three parts: the paper used on the dado, the paper from the dado to ceiling border (known as fill), and the border, or frieze.’
  • ‘The ceiling was enormously high with elaborate plasterwork round the remains of a nonexistent chandelier and an opulent floral dado.’

  1. 1.1
     short for dado rail
     ‘dados were fixed to the wall to protect the plaster’
     More example sentences

     • ‘The hall teams a pale oatmeal carpet with yellow tones above and below the dado, plain coving and stylish pendant lighting.’
     • ‘The hall has black and white marble floor tiles, with shades of red above and below the dado.’
     • ‘In its two hundred-odd rooms gold leaf covered every dado, while solid marble flagged every floor.’
     • ‘Inside the hallway is elegantly proportioned, with ornate plasterwork and a dado dividing the coffee and cream colour scheme.’
• 2North American A groove cut in the face of a board, into which the edge of another board is fixed.

  as modifier ‘a dado joint’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Guide wood along the blade to make the dado grooves.’
  • ‘Use a framing square to draw a line on the outside of the plywood for each dado joint so when finishing nails are used they will penetrate the shelves and not be visible on the inside.’
  • ‘Check the plans for the specified depth and thickness of all your dado and rabbet cuts.’
  • ‘Check your plans for the exact location of the dado cuts.’
  • ‘Cut a replacement tread and insert it into the dados in the stringers.’
• 3Architecture
  The part of a pedestal between the base and the cornice.

  More example sentences

  • ‘We are therefore reminded of a pedestal of which the base, dado and cornice were alike, wholly clad in bronze.’