hinge








noun

  1. a jointed device or flexible piece on which a door, gate, shutter, lid, or other attached part turns, swings, or moves.
  2. a natural anatomical joint at which motion occurs around a transverse axis, as that of the knee or a bivalve shell.
  3. that on which something is based or depends; pivotal consideration or factor.
  4. Also called mount. Philately. a gummed sticker for affixing a stamp to a page of an album, so folded as to form a hinge, allowing the stamp to be raised to reveal the text beneath.

verb (used without object), hinged, hing·ing.

  1. to be dependent or contingent on, or as if on, a hinge (usually followed by on or upon): Everything hinges on his decision.

verb (used with object), hinged, hing·ing.

  1. to furnish with or attach by a hinge or hinges.
  2. to attach as if by a hinge.
  3. to make or consider as dependent upon; predicate: He hinged his action on future sales.

noun

  1. a device for holding together two parts such that one can swing relative to the other, typically having two interlocking metal leaves held by a pin about which they pivot
  2. anatomy a type of joint, such as the knee joint, that moves only backwards and forwards; a joint that functions in only one planeTechnical name: ginglymus
  3. a similar structure in invertebrate animals, such as the joint between the two halves of a bivalve shell
  4. something on which events, opinions, etc, turn
  5. Also called: mount philately a small thin transparent strip of gummed paper for affixing a stamp to a page

verb

  1. (tr) to attach or fit a hinge to (something)
  2. (intr; usually foll by on or upon) to depend (on)
  3. (intr) to hang or turn on or as if on a hinge
n.

c.1300, “the axis of the earth;” late 14c. as “movable joint of a gate or door,” not found in Old English, cognate with Middle Dutch henghe “hook, handle,” Middle Low German henge “hinge,” from Proto-Germanic *hanhan (transitive), *hangen (intransitive), from PIE *konk- “to hang” (see hang (v.)). The notion is the thing from which a door hangs.

v.

c.1600, “to bend,” from hinge (n.). Meaning “turn on, depend” is from 1719. Related: Hinged; hinging.

n.

  1. A jointed or flexible device that allows the turning or pivoting of a part, such as a door or lid, on a stationary frame.
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