# bridge

Pronunciation: say "BRIJ" /bɹɪd͡ʒ/

## Noun

1. A structure spanning an obstacle such as a river, road, railway, ravine, or valley, carrying a road, path, or railway across it.
   - Simple: A structure built over a river, road, or valley so people and vehicles can cross.
   - _Engineers inspected the suspension bridge before reopening it to traffic._
   - _Several bridges across the gorge were damaged by the earthquake._
3. Something that links two things, places or groups, either physically or in an abstract sense.
   - Simple: Something that joins two things or groups, in a real way or in an idea.
   - _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._
4. The raised room or platform on a ship from which it is navigated and its operations are directed.
   - Simple: The raised room or area on a ship where the officers steer it and control everything.
   - _From the bridge, the captain ordered a sudden change of course._
   - _The first officer took the bridge during the night watch._
5. The ridge of bone that forms the top part of a person's nose.
   - Simple: The hard upper part of the nose, between the eyes.
   - _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._
6. In a song, a passage that contrasts with the surrounding music and leads back into the main section.
   - Simple: A different-sounding part of a song that leads back to the main tune.
   - _The bridge shifts into a minor key right before the final chorus._
   - _Songwriters often use the bridge to add a moment of emotional contrast._
7. On a stringed instrument, the upright piece over which the strings pass, keeping them raised above the sounding board.
   - Simple: The small piece on a string instrument that holds the strings up off the body.
   - _The luthier shaped a new bridge for the old cello._
   - _Vibrations pass through the bridge into the body of the violin._
10. A fixed prosthesis that replaces one or several adjacent missing teeth.
   - Simple: A fixed dental part that fills the gap left by one or more missing teeth.
   - _After losing a molar, she opted for a bridge rather than an implant._
   - _The dentist cemented the bridge onto the prepared teeth._
8. A card game played by four players in two partnerships of two players each.
   - Simple: A card game for four people who play as two teams of two.
   - _They spent the whole evening playing bridge at the club._
   - _She won the regional bridge tournament last spring._
9. In computing, a device or software component that connects two or more separate systems, networks or buses.
   - Simple: In computers, a part or program that links two separate systems or networks so they can work together.
   - _Developers built a bridge between the payment service and the inventory system._
   - _The bridge translates messages so the two platforms can work together._
12. The piece of a pair of glasses, or of other eyewear, that links the lenses and rests across the nose.
   - Simple: The part of a pair of glasses that joins the two lenses and rests on your nose.
   - _If the bridge of your new frames pinches, the optician can adjust it._
   - _Swim goggles with an adjustable bridge fit a wider range of faces._
13. An arched position with the body curved upward, supported on the hands and feet or on the feet and head, as in gymnastics or wrestling.
   - Simple: A position where you arch your back upward and hold yourself up on your hands and feet, or feet and head.
   - _The coach asked each gymnast to hold a bridge for thirty seconds._
   - _From a standing start she dropped backward into a smooth bridge._
16. A piece supported at its ends that keeps some other thing from resting on what it spans, as in engraving or watchmaking, or that forms a platform over which something passes.
   - Simple: A part held up at both ends that keeps one thing off another, or makes a raised platform for something to cross.
   - _To avoid smudging the copper, the engraver worked with his hand on a bridge laid across the plate._
   - _Each gear in the movement turns on a pivot held by its own bridge._
17. In snooker, pool and billiards, a support for the cue, made with the hand on the table or by a notched stick.
   - Simple: In pool or snooker, the hand shape or special stick that holds the cue steady for a shot.
   - _She rested the cue on her bridge and lined up the shot._
   - _Players use a raised bridge to reach over an obstructing ball._
18. A statement, such as an offer, that signals the possibility of agreement between two sides.
   - Simple: An offer or statement that shows two sides might be able to agree.
   - _The ambassador's proposal served as a bridge toward a lasting ceasefire._
   - _After months of silence, the minister's conciliatory remarks were read as a bridge to the opposition._
19. In road cycling, the act of a lone rider or small group closing the gap between themselves and the rider or group ahead.
   - Simple: In cycling, the move of catching up to the riders ahead by closing the gap to them.
   - _A well-timed bridge let the climber join the leaders just before the final ascent._
   - _Her solo bridge to the lead group on the final climb drew loud cheers from the crowd._
21. A valence bond, atom, or chain of atoms that connects two different parts of a single molecule, with the linked atoms serving as bridgeheads.
   - Simple: In chemistry, a bond, an atom or a chain of atoms that links two separate parts of the same molecule.
   - _The two ring systems are joined by a methylene bridge._
   - _Breaking the bridge separates the molecule into two independent fragments._
22. The span of undrilled ball surface separating the finger holes on a bowling ball.
   - Simple: On a bowling ball, the small space of solid surface between the finger holes.
   - _The driller measured the bridge carefully before cutting the second finger hole._
   - _A comfortable bridge keeps the two finger holes from feeling cramped._
23. An unintended solder connection that links two or more components or pins that were meant to remain separate.
   - Simple: An unwanted blob of solder that connects two points on a circuit board that should stay apart.
   - _Inspection revealed a bridge shorting two adjacent pins on the chip._
   - _A single bridge across the fine-pitch leads can disable the whole module._
24. Any of various instruments that determine electrical properties such as impedance or inductance by balancing one part of a circuit against another.
   - Simple: An electrical instrument that measures things like resistance by balancing parts of a circuit against each other.
   - _Engineers connected a bridge to find the unknown capacitance precisely._
   - _The lab's bridge measures impedance by balancing two arms of the circuit._
25. An edge in a connected graph whose removal would leave the graph no longer connected, splitting it into separate components.
   - Simple: In math, a line in a network that, if you take it away, splits the network into separate pieces.
   - _The algorithm flags each bridge so engineers know which links cannot fail without splitting the network._
   - _In a tree, every single edge is a bridge._
26. An extra day off granted because it falls between two public holidays.
   - Simple: A workday that falls between two public holidays and is given off as an extra day of vacation.
   - _With holidays on Wednesday and Friday, the city made Thursday a bridge day, and most of the staff left town for a long break._
   - _Many parents scramble for childcare when schools shut for a bridge day squeezed between two holidays._
27. In turtles, the bony connection joining the upper shell (carapace) to the lower shell (plastron).
   - Simple: In turtles, the bony part that joins the top shell to the bottom shell.
   - _The bridge runs along each flank, locking the carapace to the plastron._
   - _Damage to the bridge can leave a turtle's shell unstable._
28. A method of cheating in which a card is bent beforehand by hand pressure so that the deck cuts at that card.
   - Simple: A way of cheating at cards by bending a card so the deck can be cut at a chosen spot.
   - _By putting a bridge in the pack, the cheat controlled exactly where it was cut._
   - _An experienced dealer can feel a bridge the moment the cards are squared._

## Verb

2. To connect or close the gap between two separate or differing things, as a bridge would.
   - Simple: To connect two things that are far apart or very different.
   - _The new policy aims to bridge the gap between rich and poor neighborhoods._
   - _A good translator bridges two languages and two ways of thinking._
11. To span something or build a structure across it, joining two sides.
   - Simple: To stretch across a gap and connect the two sides.
   - _A single steel arch bridges the deep canyon._
   - _Engineers will bridge the gorge with a long cable span._
14. To connect two or more computer buses or networks using a device that passes traffic between them.
   - Simple: To join two or more computer networks together so they work as one.
   - _Administrators often bridge separate network segments to simplify file sharing._
   - _The router bridges the wired and wireless networks into one._
15. To pass from one piece or section of music to another without a pause.
   - Simple: To move smoothly from one part of a song to the next without stopping.
   - _In this symphony, the slow movement bridges straight into the finale with no pause._
   - _The pianist used a soft chord to bridge the two sections._
20. In wrestling, to move into the bridge position, arching the body onto feet and head to avoid being pinned.
   - Simple: In wrestling, to arch up onto your feet and head to keep your shoulders off the mat.
   - _Caught on his back, he managed to bridge and roll free._
   - _Wrestlers learn to bridge the instant their shoulders near the mat._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A temporary treatment that keeps a patient stable until the lasting, definitive treatment can be given, as in ECMO used until surgery.
- (noun) A spot in a line of verse where poets avoid ending a word, so a word break is not allowed there.
- (noun) A low wall or upright barrier inside a furnace's firebox that turns aside the flame and hot gases.
- (noun) A hard layer of salt that has not dissolved, forming a crust inside a water softener's tank.
- (noun) In roller derby, a line of blockers stretched out from the pack and still linked to it, used to block over a longer distance.
- (verb) In roller derby, to form a stretched line of blockers reaching out from the pack.

## Origin

**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.
**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.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/bridge (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).