bridge1
/brɪdʒ
/noun
1A structure carrying a road, path, railway, etc. across a river, road, or other obstacle: a bridge across the River Thames a railway bridge...
- The Trail threads through Langport and returns to the river under the railway bridge.
- I could see him striding across the wasteland to the Lochee Road towards the railway bridge at Muirton Road.
- The card is an old picture of what appears to be a Roman aqueduct - a bridge over a river.
Synonyms
viaduct, aqueduct, flyover, overpass;
way over
1.1Something intended to reconcile or connect two seemingly incompatible things: a committee which was formed to create a bridge between rival party groups...
- No more can he claim to be the bridge between the U.S. and the E.U.
- Ida likens the NFC to a bridge between the two worlds.
- Turkey has long tried to enter the expanding union, seeing itself as a bridge between Muslim countries and Europe.
Synonyms
link, connection, means of uniting;
bond, tie
1.2 short for land bridge.
2The elevated, enclosed platform on a ship from which the captain and officers direct operations: Talbot stepped across the two gunwales and made his way up to the bridge...
- The captain ordered the bridge to keep the ship on its course but increase the ship speed by ten percent.
- Without question, all officers stationed on the bridge of the ship marched towards the fire control center.
- About two hours ago, the junior officers were called to the bridge to conduct ship handling drills.
3The upper bony part of a person’s nose: he pushed his spectacles further up the bridge of his nose...
- In the Weber test, the tuning fork is struck and placed on the midline of the forehead, the nasal bridge, or the chin.
- The smaller ethmoid sinuses are behind the bridge of the nose, between the eyes.
- I glide along her eyebrows and follow the bridge of her nose to her cheekbones.
3.1The central part of a pair of glasses, fitting over the bridge of the nose: these sunglasses have a special nose bridge for comfort...
- She pushed the bridge of her glasses further up on her nose.
- Men with small button noses should opt for metal framed glasses with high bridges.
- An inflated bridge piece is provided for use on eyeglass frames to increase comfort.
4A partial denture supported by natural teeth on either side.A temporary bridge can be made so that you cannot see the spaces between the remaining teeth....
- Dentures and bridges that are supported by successful implants tend to be very secure.
- Implants can be used singly, to support a crown, or in groups to stabilise dentures or bridges.
5 Music The part of a stringed instrument over which the strings are stretched: ebony bridges and fingerboards...
- Popular instruments include the zither with 25 strings and movable bridges.
- Depressing the string behind the bridge gives great flexibility of pitch.
- I pointed at the spot between the sound hole and bridge, where this instrument had its fullest sound.
6 Music A bridge passage or middle eight.They write choruses and bridges and songs that last longer than a minute and a half....
- The dropping of a simplistic synth line in the bridge and eventual chorus only sweetens the deal.
- The process continued until verses, choruses and bridges were written, along with some lyrics.
7The support for the tip of a billiard cue formed by the hand.I have been playing pool for almost 5 years and since I have started I have been using an open bridge....
- The user then places a hand on the billiard table to form a bridge for the cue.
7.1A long stick with a frame at the end which is used to support a cue for a difficult shot.It slides onto your cue, eliminating the need for a separate bridge....
- The front hand holds the mechanical bridge flat on the table.
- Lay the bridge on the table with the notch of desired height behind the cue ball.
8An electric circuit with two branches across which a detector or load is connected, used to measure resistance or other property by equalizing the potential across the two ends of a detector, or to rectify an alternating voltage or current.The internal harnesses comprise unlabeled black wires terminated at the bridge rectifiers and filter caps....
- It took me many tries to get the grease to seemingly connect the bridges without touching the other connections.
- A high sensitivity detector system utilizing a bridge balancing method is described.
verb [with object]
1Be or make a bridge over (something): a covered walkway bridged the gardens earlier attempts to bridge St George’s Channel had failed...
- Lift and stair are provided, leading to the curved walkway above, which bridges the road.
- Ties were also found covered with mortar bridging the cavity.
- Significant for bridging the two riverbanks of unequal height, its light steel structure has a delicate lace-like detail.
Synonyms
span, cross, cross over, go over, pass over, extend across, reach across, traverse, arch over
1.1Make (a difference between two groups) smaller or less significant: new initiatives were needed to bridge the great abyss of class...
- The gap should also be bridged between heads of departments and principals.
- Differences on key issues could not be bridged.
- This article has attempted to show how the gap between educational theory and practice can be bridged.
Synonyms
join, link, connect, unite;
straddle;
overcome, reconcile
Phrases
a bridge too far
build bridges
cross that bridge when one comes to it
I have a bridge to sell you
Derivatives
bridgeable
/ adjective ...- Two points was bridgeable but three was a bridge too far.
- Firstly, the second half of the season begins now and logic dictates that the gap is still bridgeable.
- Situated at the lowest point bridgeable on the Severn, it was long an important inland port.
Origin
Old English brycg (noun), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch brug and German Brücke.
Rhymes
bridge2
/brɪdʒ/noun [mass noun]
A card game related to whist, played by two partnerships of two players who at the beginning of each hand bid for the right to name the trump suit, the highest bid also representing a contract to make a specified number of tricks with a specified suit as trumps.This is possible because of the trumping rule, which is different from that in whist or bridge....
- Even before then, variants of it were popular with bridge players in Denmark and Southern Sweden.
- Other popular leisure-time pursuits include chess, bingo, and bridge.
In bridge, the members of each pair sit opposite one another; and in each hand one player (declarer) plays both his or her own hand and the exposed cards of their partner (dummy). The modern form of bridge is called contract bridge; its principal features are a complex bidding system and a scoring system for the card play in which only tricks that were bid as well as won count towards game. The main form of competitive bridge for tournaments is duplicate bridge, in which the same prearranged hands are played independently by several pairs or teams.
Origin
Late 19th century: of unknown origin.