hinge

[ hinj ]
See synonyms for: hingehinged on Thesaurus.com

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.

  1. that on which something is based or depends; pivotal consideration or factor.

  2. 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.

  1. to make or consider as dependent upon; predicate: He hinged his action on future sales.

Origin of hinge

1
1250–1300; Middle English henge; cognate with Low German heng(e), Middle Dutch henge hinge; akin to hang

Other words for hinge

Other words from hinge

  • hingeless, adjective
  • hingelike, adjective
  • re·hinge, verb (used with object), re·hinged, re·hing·ing.
  • well-hinged, adjective

Words Nearby hinge

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use hinge in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for hinge

hinge

/ (hɪndʒ) /


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 plane: Technical name: ginglymus

  1. a similar structure in invertebrate animals, such as the joint between the two halves of a bivalve shell

  2. something on which events, opinions, etc, turn

  3. 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)

  1. (intr) to hang or turn on or as if on a hinge

Origin of hinge

1
C13: probably of Germanic origin; compare Middle Dutch henge; see hang

Derived forms of hinge

  • hinged, adjective
  • hingeless, adjective
  • hingelike, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012