Joint that may be violated (8)
I believe the answer is:
dovetail
'joint' is the definition.
(I know that dovetail is a type of mortise and tenon)
'may be violated' is the wordplay.
'may' indicates anagramming the letters (I've seen 'might' mean this (I've seen this in other clues)).
'violated' with letters rearranged gives 'DOVETAIL'.
'that' is the link.
(Other definitions for dovetail that I've seen before include "Come together" , "good joint" , "Joint - fit neatly" , "Fit together well" , "Joint with fan-shaped tenon" .)