The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Bridge \Bridge\ (br[i^]j), n. [OE. brig, brigge, brug, brugge,
AS. brycg, bricg; akin to Fries. bregge, D. brug, OHG.
brucca, G. br["u]cke, Icel. bryggja pier, bridge, Sw. brygga,
Dan. brygge, and prob. Icel. br[=u] bridge, Sw. & Dan. bro
bridge, pavement, and possibly to E. brow.]
1. A structure, usually of wood, stone, brick, or iron,
erected over a river or other water course, or over a
chasm, railroad, etc., to make a passageway from one bank
to the other.
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2. Anything supported at the ends, which serves to keep some
other thing from resting upon the object spanned, as in
engraving, watchmaking, etc., or which forms a platform or
staging over which something passes or is conveyed.
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3. (Mus.) The small arch or bar at right angles to the
strings of a violin, guitar, etc., serving of raise them
and transmit their vibrations to the body of the
instrument.
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4. (Elec.) A device to measure the resistance of a wire or
other conductor forming part of an electric circuit.
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5. A low wall or vertical partition in the fire chamber of a
furnace, for deflecting flame, etc.; -- usually called a
bridge wall.
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Aqueduct bridge. See Aqueduct.
Asses' bridge, Bascule bridge, Bateau bridge. See under
Ass, Bascule, Bateau.
Bridge of a steamer (Naut.), a narrow platform across the
deck, above the rail, for the convenience of the officer
in charge of the ship; in paddlewheel vessels it connects
the paddle boxes.
Bridge of the nose, the upper, bony part of the nose.
Cantalever bridge. See under Cantalever.
Draw bridge. See Drawbridge.
Flying bridge, a temporary bridge suspended or floating, as
for the passage of armies; also, a floating structure
connected by a cable with an anchor or pier up stream, and
made to pass from bank to bank by the action of the
current or other means.
Girder bridge or Truss bridge, a bridge formed by
girders, or by trusses resting upon abutments or piers.
Lattice bridge, a bridge formed by lattice girders.
Pontoon bridge, Ponton bridge. See under Pontoon.
Skew bridge, a bridge built obliquely from bank to bank, as
sometimes required in railway engineering.
Suspension bridge. See under Suspension.
Trestle bridge, a bridge formed of a series of short,
simple girders resting on trestles.
Tubular bridge, a bridge in the form of a hollow trunk or
rectangular tube, with cellular walls made of iron plates
riveted together, as the Britannia bridge over the Menai
Strait, and the Victoria bridge at Montreal.
Wheatstone's bridge (Elec.), a device for the measurement
of resistances, so called because the balance between the
resistances to be measured is indicated by the absence of
a current in a certain wire forming a bridge or connection
between two points of the apparatus; -- invented by Sir
Charles Wheatstone.
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