Meaning of bridge in English

bridge

noun

/brɪdʒ/ uk

/brɪdʒ/

bridge noun (LARGE STRUCTURE)

a structure that is built over a river, road, or railroad to allow people and vehicles to cross from one side to the other:

To get to the restaurant, you need to go over the bridge.

We drove across the bridge.

the Brooklyn Bridge

James O'Neil/Stone/GettyImages

C2 [ C usually singular ]

something that makes it easier to make a change from one situation to another:

Part-time work can provide a bridge between staying home and working full-time.

More examplesFewer examples

The island is joined to the mainland by a road bridge.
The children ran down the bank, over the bridge and along the path.
They're building a new bridge across the river.
A row of reinforced concrete pillars supports the bridge.
The new railroad bridge is an incredible sight to behold.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Bridges

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Helping and co-operating

bridge noun (PART OF A SHIP)

[ C ]

the raised part of a ship on which the captain and other officers stand and from where they control the movement of the ship

Monty Rakusen/Image Source/GettyImages

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Parts of ships & boats

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bridge noun (NOSE)

[ C usually singular ]

the top part of the nose, between the eyes, or (on a pair of glasses) the piece that is supported by the top part of the nose:

The blow caught him right on the bridge of his nose.

herjua/iStock/Getty Images Plus/GettyImages

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

The nose

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bridge noun (GAME)

[ U ]

a card game for four players who play in pairs

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Card games

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bridge noun (TEETH)

[ C ]

(also bridgework, us/ˈbrɪdʒ.wɜ˞ːk/ uk/ˈbrɪdʒ.wɜːk/ [ U ])

a piece of material that contains one or more artificial teeth and is kept in place by being fastened to the natural teeth

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Dentistry

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bridge noun (MUSICAL INSTRUMENT)

[ C ]

a small piece of wood over which the strings are stretched on a musical instrument such as a guitar or violin

Andreas Korth/EyeEm/GettyImages

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Musical instruments

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bridge noun (POSITION)

[ C or U ]

(also bridge pose)

in yoga and other forms of exercise, a position in which you have the back of your head, your shoulders and arms, and your feet on the floor and your hips and knees lifted:

I recommend you warm up thoroughly before doing your bridges.

Bridge pose works your hips and thighs.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Exercising & training

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bridge noun (SONG PART)

[ C ]

part of a song or piece of music that is played between two other parts that are similar to each other:

the bridge The song is composed of two verses each followed by a chorus, then the bridge, then another verse followed by the chorus.

The lead guitarist improvised an extended solo during the bridge.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Technical music terms

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bridge

verb [ T ]

/brɪdʒ/ uk

/brɪdʒ/

bridge verb [T] (BRING TOGETHER)

to make the difference or division between two things smaller or less severe:

bridge a gap We need to bridge the gap between employees and management.

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Connecting and combining

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bridge verb [T] (BUILD)

to build a bridge over or across something:

The river had been bridged at its narrowest point.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Building: construction work & workers

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Bridges

(Definition of bridge from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

bridge | Intermediate English

bridge

noun

/brɪdʒ/

bridge noun (LARGE STRUCTURE)

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[ C ]

a structure that is built over a river, road, or railroad to allow people and vehicles to cross from one side to the other:

We drove across the bridge from Brooklyn to Manhattan.

bridge noun (NOSE)

[ C usually sing ]

the top part of the nose, between the eyes, or the piece on a pair of glasses that is supported by the top part of the nose:

He rubbed the bridge of his nose.

bridge noun (MUSICAL INSTRUMENT)

[ C ]

a small piece of wood on a musical instrument, such as a guitar or violin, over which strings are stretched

bridge noun (TEETH)

[ C ]

(also bridgework, us/ˈbrɪdʒˌwɜrk/)

a piece of material that keeps artificial teeth in place by being fastened to the natural teeth

bridge noun (PART OF A SHIP)

[ C ]

the raised part of a ship on which the captain and other officers stand and from where they control the movement of the ship

bridge noun (GAME)

[ U ]

a card game for four players who play in two pairs and try to win the cards they say they will win

bridge

verb [ T ]

/brɪdʒ/

bridge verb [T] (BUILD OVER )

to build or form a bridge over something:

The shopping complex bridges a highway.

If a difference is bridged, it is made smaller:

Swing music bridged the gap between popular and classical music.

(Definition of bridge from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

bridge | Business English

bridge

adjective

/brɪdʒ/ us

( UK usually bridging)

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FINANCE

relating to money that is borrowed for a short period of time, until money is available for a longer period:

bridge fund/finance/financing A group of loyal donors pledged a bridge fund of $20 million to the orchestra.

(Definition of bridge from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of bridge

bridge

The flames then spread to some plastic pipes on the bridge.

From CBS Local

Since spring, the westbound lane has been closed and single-lane traffic was allowed on the eastbound side of the bridge.

From Minneapolis Star Tribune

He's bridged the gap between the starters and the backend of the bullpen.

From cleveland.com

That proposal included soil studies and survey work for a possible underpass or bridge.

From Chicago Tribune

The bridge was built expressly to prevent overcrowding.

From International Business Times

An inspection of state highway and turnpike bridges also had turned up "very minor issues," she said.

From USA TODAY

Then he dropped him through a hole in the bridge.

From Voice of America

He saw the soldiers and the captain on the bridge.

From Voice of America

A troll is a creature that lives under bridges and eats the unaware.

From CNN

For many, the weekend powwows bridge the chasm between the city and the reservation.

From NPR

He's a wonderful bridge between the two countries.

From Los Angeles Times

Even the word "infrastructure" lost its respectability when government had a hand in maintaining roads, bridges, and trains.

From Huffington Post

Many patients came looking for cosmetic dentistry: new dentures, partial dentures, bridges and crowns, none of which are offered at the clinic.

From Los Angeles Times

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with bridge

bridge

These are words often used in combination with bridge.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

arched bridge

A 1934 project constructed a second arched bridge immediately downstream and connected both bridges with a single deck.

From

Wikipedia

This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.

bridge abutment

Two children, initially unaccounted for, were later found safe under a bridge abutment.

From

Wikipedia

This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.

bridge builder

Yet the bridge builder was actually paid his fee!

From the

Hansard archive

Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0

See all collocations with bridge

What is the pronunciation of bridge?

What is the pronunciation of bridgework?

Translations of bridge

in Chinese (Traditional)

大型結構, 橋, 橋樑…

in Chinese (Simplified)

大型结构, 桥, 桥梁…

in Spanish

puente, bridge, puente [masculine]…

in Portuguese

ponte, ponte de comando, ponte do nariz…

in more languages

in Marathi

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in Italian

पूल…

橋, （トランプの）ブリッジ, 橋（はし）…

köprü, birleştirici unsur, briç oyun (iskambil)…

pont [masculine], passerelle [feminine], arête [feminine]…

pont, bridge…

brug, rug, kam…

ஒரு நதி, சாலை அல்லது தண்டவாளங்களின் மேல் கட்டப்பட்ட ஒரு அமைப்பு, மக்களையும் வாகனங்களையும் ஒரு பக்கத்திலிருந்து மறுபக்கத்திற்குக் கடக்க அனுமதிக்கும் வகையில் காட்டப்படும்.…

(नदी, सड़क, या रेल-पथ पर बना) पुल…

પુલ, સેતુ…

bro, kommandobro, næseryg…

bro, brygga, näsrygg…

jambatan, anjungan kapal, batang hidung…

die Brücke, die Kommandobrücke, der Nasenrücken…