I. ˈbrij noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English brigge, from Old English brycg; akin to Old High German brucka bridge, Old Norse bryggja gangplank, brū bridge, Old Slavic brŭvŭno beam
1.
a. : a structure erected over a depression or an obstacle to travel (as a river, chasm, roadway, or railroad) carrying a continuous pathway or roadway (as for pedestrians, automobiles, or trains) — see arch bridge , bailey bridge , cantilever bridge , girder bridge , slab bridge , suspension bridge , truss bridge ; footbridge , railroad bridge ; bottom-road bridge , deck bridge , through bridge ; bascule bridge , lift bridge , swing bridge , transporter bridge , traversing bridge , vertical lift bridge ; compare overpass , viaduct
b. : a time, place, or means of abstract connection (as in transition or reconciliation) : a figurative means of crossing
the soldier as he recrosses the bridge from war to peace — Dixon Wecter
a gulf too wide to be spanned by the one bridge Australians … set any store by — the newspaper — Thomas Wood †1950
2.
a. obsolete : pier , jetty
b. : a movable landing stage for boats
3. : something resembling a bridge (as in serving as a support for or a way over something else): as
a. : the upper bony part of the nose ; also : the curved part of a pair of glasses that rests upon this part of the nose
b. : an arch or ridge at right angles to the strings of a musical instrument (as a violin or piano) serving to raise them and transmit their vibrations to the body of the instrument — see violin illustration
c. : bridging joist
d. : a platform elevated above the rail and extending across and over the deck of a ship — compare fore-and-aft bridge
e. : the hand used as a rest for a billiard or pool cue in striking the ball ; also : a notched or crossed piece at the end of a thin wooden rod for use as a cue rest
f. : a plank way or elevator used in ironworking to convey fuel or ore to the mouth of a furnace
g. : the position of a wrestler on his back with his body arched so that he is supported by his head and feet and sometimes elbows
h. : bridge bracket
i. : one of the lateral bony plates connecting the carapace and plastron of a turtle shell
j. : the metal separating the ports in a machine valve seat
k. : a timber supported on blocks that rest on another timber and have a narrow space between them through which piles may be driven (as in forepoling a mining excavation)
l. : a framework that spans railroad tracks and supports signals
m.
(1) : a backstage walk equipped with guardrails, mounting battens, and stanchions for lighting instruments that is adjustable as to height and is generally hung directly behind and parallel to the act drop in a theater — called also light bridge
(2) : the portable or fixed scaffold used in a theater in connection with the paint frame for high scenery — called also paint bridge
n. : a plate which is attached to the pillar or baseplate of a watch and in which is mounted the bearing for an arbor, wheel pivot, or balance pivot
o. : a bright band across a sunspot
p. : the platform from which a warship is conned
q.
(1) : the arch formed by a dancer's body in an extreme backbend
(2) : the arch formed by the joined raised hands of a couple or a series of couples in a folk dance
4. : something suggesting a bridge in serving the function of connecting: as
a. : land bridge
b.
(1) or bridge passage : the transition from the first subject to the second subject in a sonata or other musical form
(2) : a color or area of color serving as a transition between two other more dominant or significant colors
(3) : a passage, section, or scene in a literary or dramatic work serving as a transition between two other more significant passages, sections, or scenes
c. : pons
d. : a strand of protoplasm extending between two cells
e. : a partial denture held in place by anchorage to adjacent teeth
f. : an atom or group of atoms or a valence bond connecting two different parts of a molecule (as opposite sides of a ring)
the valence bridge in naphthalene
the carbon bridge in camphor
g. : an area of physical continuity between two chromatids persisting during the later phases of mitosis and constituting a possible source of somatic genetic change
h. : a conductor extending across from one junction of an electric network to another
i. : a short transitional passage (as of music or sound effects) connecting two parts of a radio or TV program or two programs
5. : a sliding cover usually on wheels for the top of a mine shaft
6. or bridge circuit : an electrical instrument or network for measuring or comparing resistances, inductances, capacitances, or impedances by balancing two opposing voltages through a senstive current detector whose nil reading indicates the equality of the unknown to a known ratio — see wheatstone bridge
7. : one of the floor elevators running parallel to the proscenium that are raised and lowered to provide various levels for the stage floor
8. : two men left on the king row in checkers to prevent the opponent from acquiring kings
9. : an obstruction lodged part way down a drilled hole (as an oil well)
[s]bridge.jpg[/s] [
bridge 1a: 1 simple truss, 2 steel arch, 3 continuous truss, 4 cantilever, 5 suspension
]
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English briggen, from Old English brycgian, from brycg, n.
transitive verb
1.
a. : to make a bridge over : span or make a way across with or as if with a bridge
a model railroad … I was going to bridge a little creek for it — John Steinbeck
bridging the gaps between the university and the high schools — J.S.Reeves
a kinship in spirit that could bridge four centuries — Robert Monteith
ways to bridge the time from supper to bed — John Gould
a distance greater than the human shout could bridge — Waldemar Kaempffert
bridging the distance in less than two days of actual walking — Farley Mowat
b. : to provide with a bridge
small bridged streams along the route
the bridged human nose — Weston La Barre
2. : to make an electrical connection between
bridge the two parts of a circuit
: shunt
intransitive verb
of a wrestler : to assume the position called a bridge
III. intransitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: probably by folk etymology (the dealer's passing the declaration of trumps to his partner being regarded as a bridging of the table) from earlier biritch, v. & noun, of unknown origin
of the dealer in bridge-whistory : to delegate to one's partner the duty of selecting a suit to be trump or no-trump — used with it
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: probably by folk etymology (influence of bridge ) (III) from earlier biritch
: any of various widely differing card games for four players in two partnerships, developed from dummy whist and cayenne, having in common that the hand of the declarer's partner is exposed and played by the declarer who also determines the trump suit or the fact of no-trump play, his adversaries being allowed to double the scoring values and the declarer to redouble them ; especially : contract bridge — see auction bridge , bridge-whist ; compare whist
•
- at the bridge