HINGE

hinge, flexible joint

(noun) a joint that holds two parts together so that one can swing relative to the other

hinge

(noun) a circumstance upon which subsequent events depend; “his absence is the hinge of our plan”

hinge

(verb) attach with a hinge

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

hinge (plural hinges)

A jointed or flexible device that allows the pivoting of a door etc.

A naturally occurring joint resembling such hardware in form or action, as in the shell of a bivalve.

A stamp hinge, a folded and gummed paper rectangle for affixing postage stamps in an album.

A principle, or a point in time, on which subsequent reasonings or events depend.

(statistics) The median of the upper or lower half of a batch, sample, or probability distribution.

One of the four cardinal points, east, west, north, or south.

Synonyms

• (device upon which a door hangs): har

• (statistics): quartile

Meronyms

• (device upon which a door hangs): pintel

Verb

hinge (third-person singular simple present hinges, present participle hingeing or hinging, simple past and past participle hinged)

(transitive) To attach by, or equip with a hinge.

(intransitive, with on or upon) To depend on something.

(transitive, archaeology) The breaking off of the distal end of a knapped stone flake whose presumed course across the face of the stone core was truncated prematurely, leaving not a feathered distal end but instead the scar of a nearly perpendicular break.

(obsolete) To bend.

Anagrams

• ehing, neigh

Source: Wiktionary


Hinge, n. Etym: [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.

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.

Hinge, v. i.

Definition: 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

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

23 November 2024

THEORETICAL

(adjective) concerned primarily with theories or hypotheses rather than practical considerations; “theoretical science”


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Coffee Trivia

Contrary to popular belief, coffee beans are not technically beans. They are referred to as such because of their resemblance to legumes. A coffee bean is a seed of the Coffea plant and the source for coffee. It is the pit inside the red or purple fruit, often referred to as a cherry. Just like ordinary cherries, the coffee fruit is also a so-called stone fruit.

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