a structure spanning and providing passage over a river, chasm, road, or the like.
a connecting, transitional, or intermediate route or phase between two adjacent elements, activities, conditions, or the like.
Working at the hospital was a bridge between medical school and private practice.
Nautical.
a raised transverse platform from which a power vessel is navigated: often includes a pilot house and a chart house.
any of various other raised platforms from which the navigation or docking of a vessel is supervised.
a bridge house or bridge superstructure.
a raised walkway running fore-and-aft.
Anatomy. the ridge or upper line of the nose.
Dentistry. an artificial replacement, fixed or removable, of a missing tooth or teeth, supported by natural teeth or roots adjacent to the space.
Music.
a thin, fixed wedge or support raising the strings of a musical instrument above the sounding board.
a transitional, modulatory passage connecting sections of a composition or movement.
(in jazz and popular music) the contrasting third group of eight bars in a thirty-two-bar chorus; channel; release.
Also a passage in a literary work or a scene in a play serving as a movement between two other passages or scenes of greater importance.
Ophthalmology. the part of a pair of eyeglasses that joins the two lenses and rests on the bridge or sides of the nose.
Also called bridge circuit. Electricity. a two-branch network, including a measuring device, as a galvanometer, in which the unknown resistance, capacitance, inductance, or impedance of one component can be measured by balancing the voltage in each branch and computing the unknown value from the known values of the other components.
Railroads. a gantry over a track or tracks for supporting waterspouts, signals, etc.
Building Trades. a scaffold built over a sidewalk alongside a construction or demolition site to protect pedestrians and motor traffic from falling materials.
Metallurgy.
a ridge or wall-like projection of fire brick or the like, at each end of the hearth in a metallurgical furnace.
any layer of partially fused or densely compacted material preventing the proper gravitational movement of molten material, as in a blast furnace or cupola, or the proper compacting of metal powder in a mold.
(in a twist drill) the conoid area between the flutes at the drilling end.
Billiards, Pool.
the arch formed by the hand and fingers to support and guide the striking end of a cue.
a notched piece of wood with a long handle, used to support the striking end of the cue when the hand cannot do so comfortably; rest.
transitional music, commentary, dialogue, or the like, between two parts of a radio or television program, podcast, or other broadcast.
Theater.
a gallery or platform that can be raised or lowered over a stage and is used by technicians, stagehands, etc., for painting scenery paint bridge, arranging and supporting lights light bridge, or the like.
British. a part of the floor of a stage that can be raised or lowered.
Horology. a partial plate, supported at both ends, holding bearings on the side opposite the dial.
Chemistry. a valence bond illustrating the connection of two parts of a molecule.
a support or prop, usually timber, for the roof of a mine, cave, etc.
any arch or rooflike figure formed by acrobats, dancers, etc., as by joining and raising hands.
to make a bridge or passage over; span.
The township was laid out on the north bank in 1873, and the river was bridged in 1874.
We believe there is a fundamental gulf between the parties, and no further bargaining will bridge that divide.
to join by or as if by a bridge.
A ladder bridged the two porches for access while we were repairing the steps.
Using intentional strategies to bridge between a child’s home language and English in the early years will lead to stronger language skills in the future.
to make (a way) by a bridge.
burn one's bridges (behind one), to eliminate all possibilities of retreat; make one's decision irrevocable.
She burned her bridges when she walked out angrily.
bridge the gap, see bridge the gap.
a structure that spans and provides a passage over a road, railway, river, or some other obstacle
something that resembles this in shape or function
his letters provided a bridge across the centuries
the hard ridge at the upper part of the nose, formed by the underlying nasal bones
any anatomical ridge or connecting structure Compare pons
the part of a pair of glasses that rests on the nose
Also called: bridgework. a dental plate containing one or more artificial teeth that is secured to the surrounding natural teeth
a platform athwartships and above the rail, from which a ship is piloted and navigated
a piece of wood, usually fixed, supporting the strings of a violin, guitar, etc, and transmitting their vibrations to the sounding board
Also called: bridge passage. a passage in a musical, literary, or dramatic work linking two or more important sections
Also called: bridge circuit. electronics any of several networks, such as a Wheatstone bridge, consisting of two branches across which a measuring device is connected. The resistance, capacitance, etc, of one component can be determined from the known values of the others when the voltage in each branch is balanced
computing a device that connects networks and sends packets between them
billiards snooker
a support for a cue made by placing the fingers on the table and raising the thumb
a cue rest with a notched end for shots beyond normal reach
theatre
a platform of adjustable height above or beside the stage for the use of stagehands, light operators, etc
a part of the stage floor that can be raised or lowered
a partition in a furnace or boiler to keep the fuel in place
to promote reconciliation or cooperation between hostile groups or people
See burn 1
to deal with a problem only when it arises; not to anticipate difficulties
to build or provide a bridge over something; span
to bridge a river
to connect or reduce the distance between
let us bridge our differences
First recorded before 1000; Middle English brigge, brugge, bregge, Old English brycg, bricg; cognate with Dutch brug, German Brücke; akin to Old Norse bryggja “gangway; pier”
First recorded in 1885–90; earlier britch, biritch; of obscure origin; perhaps from Turkish bir “one” + üç “three” (one hand being exposed while the other three are concealed), but such a name for the game is not attested in Turkey or the Middle East, from where it is alleged to have been introduced into Europe
A bridge is what gets you from one side of the river to the other. A bridge connects things. The bridge of your nose connects your nose to your head — it's where the bridge of your eyeglasses rests. If you insult your boss and quit your job, you've "burned your bridges" — you can’t go back. If you're not going to worry yourself about a possible problem, you can say "I'll cross that bridge when I get to it." The vertical piece that holds the strings up on a violin, guitar, or other stringed instrument is also a bridge, and in a song, the bridge is the part between a verse and the chorus — the transition between them.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This, she says, is not just tactical social media engagement, but the creation of a cultural bridge for a vast potential audience currently focused on cricket.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
"Such productions bridge Greece’s rich cultural heritage with contemporary creativity," Mitsotakis said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
"I created the Greater Manchester Baccalaureate or MBacc... to bridge the gap between our schools and our employers," he wrote in the Times.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
If you need 5½ years of bridge spending, consider keeping money in cash, Treasuries, CDs, or short-term bonds.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
He needed to know, and the only way to find out was to walk along the road from camp to the bridge and find out if his parents were trapped there or not.
From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret
Muhammad Jawad Yaqoob had just picked up an order from the Palm Tree Kitchen on Bridge Street in Glasgow on Saturday afternoon when dozens of demonstrators passed by chanting "get them out".
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
On March 24, 1965, Liuzzo was among the hundreds of protesters who marched across Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge to demand equal voting rights.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
The midfielder became the most expensive British player of all-time when he moved from Aston Villa to Stamford Bridge last week.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
A Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority invitation announced a ribbon cutting for June 12.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
I’ve been here for more than a year, and while I haven't seen the Louvre or the Pantheon, I have seen The Alamo and The Bridge on the River Kwai.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
NHK aired footage from elsewhere in the southwestern Kumamoto region on Kyushu island showing several blazes, damaged bridges, a derailed cargo train and a number of houses threatening to topple over.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
The work ranges from missile bases nestled deep inside mountains to bridges, ports and production facilities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
The bottom line: You don’t want to burn bridges at work.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
Washington denied Tehran's earlier claims that its forces hit civilian infrastructure in Iran, including bridges, a train station and an airport.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
Alexander drew clever maps that showed Plinkst and Ashton Place as neighboring towns connected by many short bridges.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
In 1829, she discovered the first Squaloraja fossil - known as the fish with the "curling iron eyes" - it was an ancient creature which bridged the gap between sharks and rays.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
The stockpile swaps bridged longer shipping times, and alternative cargoes began to arrive in force.
From MarketWatch ● May 7, 2026
The most famous story-style intro — it literally begins with, “Here’s a story” — belongs to “The Brady Bunch,” which bridged the 1960s and ’70s, a decade that saw the ebbing of title-sequence stories.
From Salon ● Apr. 25, 2026
Those talks came to nothing as differences on price couldn’t be bridged.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 6, 2026
X bridged his hand over his eyes—the light over the bed seemed to be blinding him—and said that Loretta’s insight into things was always a joy.
From "Nine Stories" by J. D. Salinger
She moved from a role inside the commercial bank to a more prestigious one inside the investment bank, bridging a cultural divide inside the company that CEO Jamie Dimon has long been focused on.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 9, 2026
"Our work is bridging that gap computationally through a unified natural language interface."
From Science Daily ● May 5, 2026
Priorities include bridging a trust gap between the public and the legal system.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026
Photographers and editors have often described Rai's work as bridging reportage and art, combining immediacy with composition.
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2026
With his mask off, I can see freckles bridging his nose.
From "Black Brother, Black Brother" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
