HINGE • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Hinge

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/hɪndʒ/ Listen

noun

Hinge n.

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."

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.

One of the four cardinal points, east, west, north, or south. (R.) "When the moon is in the hinge at East." "Nor slept the winds... but rushed abroad."

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.

verb

Hinge v. t. (past & past part. hinged; pres. part. hinging)

To attach by, or furnish with, hinges.

To bend. (Obs.)

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.

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Etymology of 'Hinge'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Hinge" Quotes from Famous Books

... passage." We all hurried to examine the stone most minutely, and discovered that, though it imitated as closely as possible the irregularity of the rock, its under surface bore evident traces of workmanship and had a kind of hinge to be easily moved. The hole was about three feet high, but not more than two ...

— From the Caves and Jungles of Hindostan • Helena Pretrovna Blavatsky

... shelter where we lie! With hideous din the monster rout, Dragon and vampire, fill the sky! The loosened rafter overhead Trembles and bends like quivering reed; Shakes the old door with shuddering dread, As from its rusty hinge 'twould fly! Wild cries of hell! voices that howl and shriek! The horrid troop before the tempest tossed— O Heaven!—descends my ...

— Poems • Victor Hugo

... again he went over the abbreviations, but the more closely he studied them, the more baffling he found them. The real meaning appeared to hinge on the "A." and the "T." Eventually he was driven to the conclusion that those two letters could not be understood by anyone who was not already partly in the secret, if secret it was. It occurred to him to have the city directory sent up to him. He might then find ...

— The Girl and The Bill - An American Story of Mystery, Romance and Adventure • Bannister Merwin

... I made myself look as fine as I could, and though my heart beat loudly as I mounted the bridle-path, I put on a bold look and rang the bell. It was a clanging thing, that seemed to creak on a hinge, as I pulled the stout string from outside. A man appeared, and on my inquiry said I might wait in the porch behind the great wooden gate, while he delivered my message to his excellency the baron. It seemed to take a long time, and I sat on a stone bench, eying the courtyard curiously ...

— A Roman Singer • F. Marion Crawford

... believe the old house had all been of a deep red. The high road lay between the house and the long stretch of meadow-land which separated it from the river. The picket fence in front of the dwelling was in rather a dilapidated condition, and the gate, being minus a hinge, hung awry. Many tall sunflowers stood in the narrow strip of ground between the front fence and the house, and they were about all I could see in the way of ornament. But with this rather shabby look there was after all something inviting and attractive about the place, ...

— Walter Harland - Or, Memories of the Past • Harriet S. Caswell

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