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Dictionary.com Unabridged
noun
1.
a structure spanning and providing passage over a river, chasm, road, or the like.
2.
a connecting, transitional, or intermediate route or phase between two adjacent elements, activities, conditions, or the like: Working at the hospital was a bridge between medical school and private practice.
3.
Nautical.
a.
a raised transverse platform from which a power vessel is navigated: often includes a pilot house and a chart house.
b.
any of various other raised platforms from which the navigation or docking of a vessel is supervised.
c.
a bridge house or bridge superstructure.
d.
a raised walkway running fore-and-aft.
4.
Anatomy. the ridge or upper line of the nose.
5.
EXPANDDentistry. an artificial replacement, fixed or removable, of a missing tooth or teeth, supported by natural teeth or roots adjacent to the space.
6.
Music.
a.
a thin, fixed wedge or support raising the strings of a musical instrument above the sounding board.
b.
a transitional, modulatory passage connecting sections of a composition or movement.
c.
(in jazz and popular music) the contrasting third group of eight bars in a thirty-two-bar chorus; channel; release.
7.
Also, bridge passage. a passage in a literary work or a scene in a play serving as a movement between two other passages or scenes of greater importance.
8.
Ophthalmology. the part of a pair of eyeglasses that joins the two lenses and rests on the bridge or sides of the nose.
9.
Also called bridge circuit. Electricity. a two-branch network, including a measuring device, as a galvanometer, in which the unknown resistance, capacitance, inductance, or impedance of one component can be measured by balancing the voltage in each branch and computing the unknown value from the known values of the other components. Compare Wheatstone bridge.
10.
Railroads. a gantry over a track or tracks for supporting waterspouts, signals, etc.
11.
Building Trades. a scaffold built over a sidewalk alongside a construction or demolition site to protect pedestrians and motor traffic from falling materials.
12.
Metallurgy.
a.
a ridge or wall-like projection of fire brick or the like, at each end of the hearth in a metallurgical furnace.
b.
any layer of partially fused or densely compacted material preventing the proper gravitational movement of molten material, as in a blast furnace or cupola, or the proper compacting of metal powder in a mold.
13.
(in a twist drill) the conoid area between the flutes at the drilling end.
14.
Billiards, Pool.
a.
the arch formed by the hand and fingers to support and guide the striking end of a cue.
b.
a notched piece of wood with a long handle, used to support the striking end of the cue when the hand cannot do so comfortably; rest.
15.
transitional music, commentary, dialogue, or the like, between two parts of a radio or television program.
16.
Theater.
a.
a gallery or platform that can be raised or lowered over a stage and is used by technicians, stagehands, etc., for painting scenery (paint bridge), arranging and supporting lights (light bridge), or the like.
b.
British. a part of the floor of a stage that can be raised or lowered.
17.
Horology. a partial plate, supported at both ends, holding bearings on the side opposite the dial. Compare cock1 (def. 10).
18.
Chemistry. a valence bond illustrating the connection of two parts of a molecule.
19.
a support or prop, usually timber, for the roof of a mine, cave, etc.
20.
COLLAPSEany arch or rooflike figure formed by acrobats, dancers, etc., as by joining and raising hands.
verb (used with object)
21.
to make a bridge or passage over; span: The road bridged the river.
22.
to join by or as if by a bridge: a fallen tree bridging the two porches.
23.
to make (a way) by a bridge.
verb (used without object)
24.
Foundry. (of molten metal) to form layers or areas heterogeneous either in material or in degree of hardness.
adjective
Idiom25.
(especially of clothing) less expensive than a manufacturer's most expensive products: showing his bridge line for the fall season.
26.
burn one's bridges (behind one), to eliminate all possibilities of retreat; make one's decision irrevocable: She burned her bridges when she walked out angrily.
Origin:
before 1000; Middle English brigge, Old English brycg; cognate with Dutch brug, German Brücke; akin to Old Norse bryggja pier
before 1000; Middle English brigge, Old English brycg; cognate with Dutch brug, German Brücke; akin to Old Norse bryggja pier
Related forms
bridge·a·ble, adjective
bridge·less, adjective
bridge·like, adjective
un·bridge·a·ble, adjective
un·bridged, adjective
Synonyms
21. traverse, cross, vault. 22. link, connect.
21. traverse, cross, vault. 22. link, connect.
noun Cards.
a game derived from whist in which one partnership plays to fulfill a certain declaration against an opposing partnership acting as defenders. Compare auction bridge, contract (def. 5).
Origin:
1885–90; earlier also spelling britch, biritch; of obscure origin; perhaps < Turkish bir one + üç three (one hand being exposed while the other three are concealed), but such a name for the game is not attested in Turkey or the Near East, from where it is alleged to have been introduced into Europe
1885–90; earlier also spelling britch, biritch; of obscure origin; perhaps < Turkish bir one + üç three (one hand being exposed while the other three are concealed), but such a name for the game is not attested in Turkey or the Near East, from where it is alleged to have been introduced into Europe
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To bridges
Collins
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
bridge
card game, 1886 (perhaps as early as 1843), an alteration of biritch, but the source and meaning of that are obscure. "Probably of Levantine origin, since some form of the game appears to have been long known in the Near East" [OED]. One guess is that it represents Turkish *bir-üç "one-three,"
EXPANDsince one hand is exposed and three are concealed. The game also was known early as Russian whist (attested in English from 1839).
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary
bridge (brĭj)
n.
An anatomical structure resembling a bridge or span.
The upper part of the ridge of the nose formed by the nasal bones.
A fixed or removable replacement for one or several but not all of the natural teeth, usually anchored at each end to a natural tooth.
One of the threads of protoplasm that appears to pass from one cell to another.
Bridges Bridg·es (brĭj'ĭz), Calvin Blackman. 1889-1938.
American geneticist noted for his work on the chromosome theory of heredity and the mapping of chromosomes.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
bridge  (brĭj) Pronunciation Key
(click for larger image in new window) A structure spanning and providing passage over a gap or barrier, such as a river or roadway. |
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Word Dynamo Rating For Bridges
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