DictionaryAI

bridge

BRIJ/bɹɪd͡ʒ/

Pluralbridges

Verbbridges, bridging, bridged

34 meanings of bridge

Practice

  1. 1
    built spannouncountable
    A structure spanning an obstacle such as a river, road, railway, ravine, or valley, carrying a road, path, or railway across it.

    Engineers inspected the suspension bridge before reopening it to traffic.

    Several bridges across the gorge were damaged by the earthquake.

    UsageA bridge goes over or across something: cross a bridge, the bridge over the river.

    Note

    The sense the rest of the word grows from. The American novelist Winston Churchill's The Celebrity (1897) offers a later image of wooden bridges, with boards that clatter under horses' feet. Nearly every later meaning keeps the same idea of something spanning a divide; the card game is a separate word.

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

    • The structural sense is the inherited sense underlying the word's semantic extensions. en.wiktionary.org
    • Winston Churchill, author of The Celebrity, was an American novelist. en.wikipedia.org
    • The Celebrity was first published in 1897. en.wikipedia.org
    • The Celebrity describes rustic wooden bridges whose boards resound under horses' feet. gutenberg.org
    • The card-game name bridge has a separate etymology. en.wiktionary.org
  2. 2
    verbtransitive
    To connect or close the gap between two separate or differing things, as a bridge would.

    The new policy aims to bridge the gap between rich and poor neighborhoods.

    A good translator bridges two languages and two ways of thinking.

    UsageFavorite objects: bridge the gap, bridge a divide, bridge their differences.

    Similarclose, narrow, connect, link, span

    Oppositewiden, divide

    Note

    Two groups bridge their differences, and in Tortured Artists (2012) a singer bridges a stark divide in the recording industry. The subject can be the people reconciling or the person or thing that connects them.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

  3. 3
    nouncountable
    Something that links two things, places or groups, either physically or in an abstract sense.

    Over the years, the festival became a bridge between the city's two communities.

    The port has long served as a trading bridge between Asia and Europe.

    UsageUsually with between: a bridge between two communities, between old and new.

    Similarlink, connection, bond

    Oppositebarrier, divide

    Note

    Harry S. Truman, recalling NATO's early days in a filmed interview, calls France "the bridge between Germany, Spain and Italy", a geographical fact turned into a diplomatic role. The definite article makes a place or person the one essential link.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • The recollection concerns France's diplomatic role in NATO. trumanlibrary.gov
    • The metaphor reflects France's geographical position connecting Germany, Spain and Italy. en.wikipedia.org
  4. 4
    on a shipnouncountable
    The raised room or platform on a ship from which it is navigated and its operations are directed.

    From the bridge, the captain ordered a sudden change of course.

    The first officer took the bridge during the night watch.

    UsageOfficers stand on the bridge, and one takes the bridge when in charge.

    Similarwheelhouse

    Note

    The word arose with paddle steamers, which needed a raised crossing between their paddle boxes. Smaller motor vessels are steered from a wheelhouse, and traditional sailing ships were commanded from the quarterdeck, though modern sailing ships may have a bridge too.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • Sailing ships were traditionally commanded from the quarterdeck. en.wikipedia.org
  5. 5
    nosenouncountable
    The ridge of bone that forms the top part of a person's nose.

    The boxer's punch landed squarely on the bridge of his opponent's nose.

    A pair of spectacles rests neatly on the bridge of the nose.

    UsageUsually the bridge of someone's nose.

    Note

    The ridge is formed by the paired nasal bones and the frontal processes of the maxillae. That bony ridge is what rugby players break and what spectacles rest on.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

  6. 6
    song sectionnouncountable
    In a song, a passage that contrasts with the surrounding music and leads back into the main section.

    The bridge shifts into a minor key right before the final chorus.

    Songwriters often use the bridge to add a moment of emotional contrast.

    Note

    Songwriters use the bridge for contrast: a change of melody, harmony or even meaning before the verse and chorus return. In Bruno Mars's "It Will Rain" (2011), it is where he begs his lover not to say goodbye. Do not confuse it with the piece under the strings, which shares the name.

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

  7. 7
    string instrumentnouncountable
    On a stringed instrument, the upright piece over which the strings pass, keeping them raised above the sounding board.

    The luthier shaped a new bridge for the old cello.

    Vibrations pass through the bridge into the body of the violin.

    Note

    A luthier's term for a small part that carries a great deal. The strings press down on it, and it passes their vibration into the sounding board, so its shape affects the tone and sets how high the strings ride. Musicians mean this piece when they talk about the instrument and the contrasting section of a song when they talk about the music.

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • The strings exert downward pressure on the bridge. yamaha.com
    • The bridge transmits string vibrations to the sounding board. yamaha.com
    • The bridge's shape affects the instrument's tone. swstrings.com
    • The bridge's shape determines the strings' height. en.wikipedia.org
  8. 8
    card gamenoununcountable
    A card game played by four players in two partnerships of two players each.

    They spent the whole evening playing bridge at the club.

    She won the regional bridge tournament last spring.

    UsageUsed with play and no a: play bridge, a game of bridge, a bridge club.

    Note

    An unrelated word that happens to share the spelling. The name comes from an earlier game, biritch, probably from Russian birjúč or birič, or else from Turkish bir-üç, "one-three." An auction of bids sets the contract before thirteen tricks are played.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • The card-game name has a separate origin, through biritch, with the stated Russian and Turkish derivations proposed. en.wiktionary.org
    • The auction determines the contract before play. acbl.org
    • A deal has thirteen tricks. en.wikipedia.org
  9. 9
    nouncountable
    In computing, a device or software component that connects two or more separate systems, networks or buses.

    Developers built a bridge between the payment service and the inventory system.

    The bridge translates messages so the two platforms can work together.

    Similarconnector, gateway, adapter

    Note

    In software the word is looser and covers any component that relays or translates between separate systems so they can work together. Its usual construction is act as a bridge with or between. Thord Daniel Hedengren's Smashing WordPress Themes (2011) uses it for a plugin that connects WordPress with BuddyPress.

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

    • Thord Daniel Hedengren wrote Smashing WordPress Themes. oreilly.com

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of bridge apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1–7, 9–28

Old English brycġ ("bridge") became Middle English brigge. It goes back to Proto-Germanic *brugjō, often linked, though not with certainty, to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "wooden flooring, decking." Scots brig, Dutch brug, and German Brücke are related. The verb was formed from the noun (Old English brycġian, "to bridge, pave"), and the sense of a section in a song copies German Steg.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 8 facts

Meaning 8

The card game is named after biritch, an older game. That name most likely came from a Russian word, бирю́ч (birjúč) or бири́ч (biríč), though Turkish bir-üç, meaning "one-three," is another possible source.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts