hinge

CEFRC1

/ˈhɪnd͡ʒ/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A metal device that lets a door or lid swing.

  2. 02

    verb

    To depend on a particular thing or condition.

Examples

  • It will hinge on whether or not she gets the promotion.

  • The door hinge's creaking is annoying!

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
3

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A naturally occurring joint resembling such hardware in form or action, as in the shell of a bivalve.

  2. A stamp hinge, a folded and gummed paper rectangle for affixing postage stamps in an album.

  3. A jointed or flexible device that allows the pivoting of a door etc.

More examples

In context

  • The flake hinged at an inclusion in the core.

  • This argument was the hinge on which the question turned.

  • The hinge is broken.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The door swings only because the well-greased blank allows smooth movement.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English henge (“hinge”), from Old English *henġ or *henġe (“hinge”), from Proto-West Germanic *hangiju or *hangī; compare Old English *henġe- in henġeclif (“overhanging cliff”), Old English henġen (“hanging; that upon which a thing is hung”). Akin to Scots heenge (“hinge”), Saterland Frisian Hänge (“hinge”), Low German henge (“hook, hinge, handle”), Dutch heng (“moving leaf of a hinge”), Dutch geheng (“hinge”), Middle Dutch henghe, hanghe (“hook, hinge, handle”), Scots hingel (“any attachment by which something is hung or fastened”), Dutch hengel (“hook”), hengsel (“handle”), dialectal German Hängel (“hook, joint”), Henkel (“handle, hook”), Danish hængsel (“hinge”), Faroese hong...