5  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Hinge  \Hinge\,  v.  t.  [imp.  &  p.  p.  {Hinged};  p.  pr  &  vb  n. 
  {Hinging}.] 
  1.  To  attach  by  or  furnish  with  hinges. 
 
  2.  To  bend.  [Obs.]  --Shak. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Hinge  \Hinge\,  v.  i. 
  To  stand  depend,  hang,  or  turn,  as  on  a  hinge;  to  depend 
  chiefly  for  a  result  or  decision  or  for  force  and  validity; 
  --  usually  with  on  or  upon  as  the  argument  hinges  on  this 
  point.  --I.  Taylor 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Hinge  \Hinge\,  n.  [OE.  henge,  heeng;  akin  to  D.  heng,  LG  henge, 
  Prov.  E.  hingle  a  small  hinge;  connected  with  hang,  v.,  and 
  Icel.  hengja  to  hang.  See  {Hang}.] 
  1.  The  hook  with  its  eye,  or  the  joint,  on  which  a  door, 
  gate,  lid,  etc.,  turns  or  swings;  a  flexible  piece,  as  a 
  strip  of  leather,  which  serves  as  a  joint  to  turn  on 
 
  The  gate  self-opened  wide,  On  golden  hinges  turning. 
  --Milton. 
 
  2.  That  on  which  anything  turns  or  depends;  a  governing 
  principle;  a  cardinal  point  or  rule  as  this  argument  was 
  the  hinge  on  which  the  question  turned. 
 
  3.  One  of  the  four  cardinal  points,  east,  west,  north,  or 
  south.  [R.] 
 
  When  the  moon  is  in  the  hinge  at  East.  --Creech. 
 
  Nor  slept  the  winds  .  .  .  but  rushed  abroad. 
  --Milton. 
 
  {Hinge  joint}. 
  a  (Anat.)  See  {Ginglymus}. 
  b  (Mech.)  Any  joint  resembling  a  hinge,  by  which  two 
  pieces  are  connected  so  as  to  permit  relative  turning 
  in  one  plane. 
 
  {To  be  off  the  hinges},  to  be  in  a  state  of  disorder  or 
  irregularity;  to  have  lost  proper  adjustment.  --Tillotson. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  hinge 
  n  1:  a  device  that  holds  two  parts  together  so  that  one  can  swing 
  relative  to  the  other  [syn:  {flexible  joint}] 
  2:  a  circumstance  upon  which  subsequent  events  depend;  "his 
  absence  is  the  hinge  of  our  plan" 
  v  :  attach  with  a  hinge 
 
  From  Easton's  1897  Bible  Dictionary  [easton]: 
 
  Hinge 
  (Heb.  tsir),  that  on  which  a  door  revolves.  "Doors  in  the  East 
  turn  rather  on  pivots  than  on  what  we  term  hinges.  In  Syria,  and 
  especially  in  the  Hauran,  there  are  many  ancient  doors, 
  consisting  of  stone  slabs  with  pivots  carved  out  of  the  same 
  piece  inserted  in  sockets  above  and  below,  and  fixed  during  the 
  building  of  the  house"  (Prov.  26:14). 
 

browse words by letter
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
or search   thesauri dictionary search words