hinge Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a joint that holds two parts together so that one can swing relative to the other
    flexible joint.
  2. noun a circumstance upon which subsequent events depend
    • his absence is the hinge of our plan
  3. verb attach with a hinge

WordNet

Hinge noun
Etymology
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.
Definitions
  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.
    Tillotson.
Hinge transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Hinged ; present participle & verbal noun Hinging
Definitions
  1. To attach by, or furnish with, hinges.
  2. To bend. Obs. Shak.
Hinge intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. 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

Webster 1913