hinge
part of speech
noun (a hinge, hinges); verb (hinge, hinges, hinged, hinging)
meaning for a pupil
1) A hinge is a small metal joint that lets a door, gate, lid or window swing open and shut. tree →
2) As a verb, to hinge on something means to depend on it completely («Everything hinges on the weather»). tree →
3) A hinge can also be a movable joint in the body, such as the one that lets your jaw open and shut. tree →
sense in the lessons
In everyday life and safety hinges are on doors, cupboards, boxes and laptops; fingers can get trapped in the hinge side of a door. In science and design it is a simple pivot, like a joint in the body (the knee and elbow are hinge joints). Phrases: «off its hinges», «hinge joint», «hinge on».
examples
- The door squeaks because the hinge needs oil. tree →
- Mind your fingers near the hinges of the door. tree →
- The gate came off its hinges in the storm. tree →
- Your elbow is a hinge joint; it bends only one way. tree →
- The lid of the box is fixed with two small hinges. tree →
- The match hinged on the last penalty. tree →
- Whether we go to the beach hinges on the weather. tree →
- My laptop's hinge is loose, so the screen wobbles. tree →
- These tears ran slowly down his face and over the hinges of his jaw, and there they rusted. tree →
note
Countable noun: «a hinge». The verb is usually «hinge on/upon» and is often passive or about results. Past: «hinged». The g is soft (like j). Safety: never put fingers in the gap by the hinge side of a door.
In the corpora
- Check around a door before closing it, because the hinge side crushes fingers badly.
- Oil on a squeaky hinge makes a slippery layer between the metal parts, so they slide instead of rubbing.
- A nutcracker squeezes hardest on a nut placed close to the hinge.
- The door is turning upon its hinges, and the sluggard is still upon his bed.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «hinge» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.