bridges

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of bridge.

   Several bridges connect the island to the mainland.

   Engineers inspected the suspension bridges after the earthquake.

   Note

   One spelling serves every kind of bridge in the plural: river crossings, dental prostheses, the raised platforms from which ships are navigated, and the pieces that hold a stringed instrument's strings. Context does all the sorting. A dentist's bridges replace teeth, while a ship's bridge is where the captain controls the vessel. The same spelling is also the present-tense verb, as in a walkway that bridges a canyon. A number or determiner in front of the word marks the noun.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of bridge.

   A narrow walkway bridges the canyon at its deepest point.

   Her latest role bridges the marketing department and the design team.

   Note

   This form pairs with a singular subject in the present, and it carries the figurative senses as readily as the literal one. A walkway bridges a canyon, a role bridges two teams, a device bridges computer networks, and a musician bridges one section of a piece into the next without stopping. In the spanning senses, the gap usually follows directly as the object: it bridges the divide.

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