/ brɪdʒ; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
OVER ROAD / RIVER
1.
[ C ] a structure that is built over a road, railway / railroad, river, etc. so that people or vehicles can cross from one side to the other :
We crossed the bridge over the river Windrush.
—see also suspension bridge , swing bridge
CONNECTION
2.
[ C ] a thing that provides a connection or contact between two different things :
Cultural exchanges are a way of building bridges between countries.
OF SHIP
3.
[ C , usually sing. ] (usually the bridge ) the part of a ship where the captain and other officers stand when they are controlling and steering the ship
CARD GAME
4.
[ U ] a card game for two pairs of players who have to predict how many cards they will win. They score points if they succeed in winning that number of cards and lose points if they fail.
—see also contract bridge
OF NOSE
5.
the ~ of sb's nose [ sing. ] the hard part at the top of the nose, between the eyes
—picture at face
OF GLASSES
6.
[ C ] the part of a pair of glasses that rests on your nose
—picture at glass
OF GUITAR / VIOLIN
7.
[ C ] a small piece of wood on a guitar , violin , etc. over which the strings are stretched
—picture at guitar
FALSE TEETH
8.
[ C ] a false tooth or false teeth, held permanently in place by being fastened to natural teeth on either side
•
IDIOMS
see burn verb , cross verb , water noun
■ verb
BUILD / FORM BRIDGE [ vn ] to build or form a bridge over sth :
The valley was originally bridged by the Romans.
A plank of wood bridged the stream.
•
IDIOMS
- bridge the gap / gulf / divide (between A and B)
••
WORD ORIGIN
noun senses 1 to 3 and noun senses 5 to 8 verb Old English brycg (noun), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch brug and German Brücke .
noun sense 4 late 19th cent.: of unknown origin.