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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

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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