hinge
    n 1: a joint that holds two parts together so that one can swing
         relative to the other [syn: hinge, flexible joint]
    2: a circumstance upon which subsequent events depend; "his
       absence is the hinge of our plan"
    v 1: attach with a hinge

Hinge \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.]
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   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.
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            The gate self-opened wide,
            On golden hinges turning.             --Milton.
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   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.
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   3. One of the four cardinal points, east, west, north, or
      south. [R.]
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            When the moon is in the hinge at East. --Creech.
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            Nor slept the winds . . . but rushed abroad.
                                                  --Milton.
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   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.
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Hinge \Hinge\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Hinged; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Hinging.]
   1. To attach by, or furnish with, hinges.
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   2. To bend. [Obs.] --Shak.
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Hinge \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
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Hinge
   (Heb. tsir), that on which a door revolves. "Doors in the East
   turn rather on pivots than on what we term hinges. In Syria, and
   especially in the Hauran, there are many ancient doors,
   consisting of stone slabs with pivots carved out of the same
   piece inserted in sockets above and below, and fixed during the
   building of the house" (Prov. 26:14).