Hinge (?), n. [OE. henge,
heeng; akin to D. heng, LG. henge, Prov. E.
hingle a small hinge; connected with hang, v., and
Icel. hengja to hang. See Hang.]
1. The hook with its eye, or the joint, on
which a door, gate, lid, etc., turns or swings; a flexible piece, as
a strip of leather, which serves as a joint to turn on.
The gate self-opened wide,
On golden hinges turning.
Milton.
2. That on which anything turns or depends; a
governing principle; a cardinal point or rule; as, this argument was
the hinge on which the question turned.
3. One of the four cardinal points, east,
west, north, or south. [R.]
When the moon is in the hinge at
East.
Creech.
Nor slept the winds . . . but rushed
abroad.
Milton.
Hinge joint. (a) (Anat.)
See Ginglymus. (b) (Mech.)
Any joint resembling a hinge, by which two pieces are connected
so as to permit relative turning in one plane. -- To be
off the hinges, to be in a state of disorder or
irregularity; to have lost proper adjustment.
Tillotson.
Hinge, v. t. [imp. & p.
p. Hinged (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Hinging (?).] 1. To attach by, or furnish
with, hinges.
2. To bend. [Obs.] Shak.
Hinge (?), v. i. To stand, depend,
hang, or turn, as on a hinge; to depend chiefly for a result or
decision or for force and validity; -- usually with on or
upon; as, the argument hinges on this point.
I. Taylor
