Noun

bridge (plural bridges)

1. A construction or natural feature that spans a divide.

   The rope bridge crosses the river.

2. (anatomy) The upper bony ridge of the human nose.

   Rugby players often break the bridge of their noses.

3. (dentistry) A prosthesis replacing one or several adjacent teeth.

   The dentist pulled out the decayed tooth and put in a bridge.

4. (nautical) An elevated platform above the upper deck of a mechanically propelled ship from which it is navigated and from which all activities on deck can be seen and controlled by the captain, etc; smaller ships have a wheelhouse, and sailing ships were controlled from a quarterdeck.

   The first officer is on the bridge.

5. (music) The piece, on string instruments, that supports the strings from the sounding board.
6. (computing) A device which connects two or more computer buses, typically in a transparent manner.

   This chip is the bridge between the front-side bus and the I/O bus.

7. (communication) A system which connects two or more local area networks at layer 2.

   The LAN bridge uses a spanning tree algorithm.

8. (music) A song contained within another song, often demarcated by meter, key, or melody.

   The lyrics in the song's bridge inverted its meaning.

9. (chemistry) An intramolecular valence bond, atom or chain of atoms that connects two different parts of a molecule; the atoms so connected being bridgeheads.
10. (electronics) An unintended solder connection between two or more components or pins.
11. (electronics) Any of several electrical devices that measure characteristics such as impedance and inductance by balancing different parts of a circuit
12. (billiards, snooker, pool) A particular form of one hand placed on the table to support the cue when making a shot in cue sports.
13. (billiards, snooker, pool) A cue modified with a convex arch-shaped notched head attached to the narrow end, used to support a player's (shooter's) cue for extended or tedious shots. Also called a spider.
14. (diplomacy) A statement, such as an offer, that signals a possibility of accord.
15. (graph theory) An edge which, if removed, changes a connected graph to one that is not connected.

Derived terms

• bridge mount
• bridge over troubled waters
• cross that bridge when one comes to it
• bridge the gap
• land bridge
• Maryland bridge

• water under the bridge
• Wheatstone bridge
• Kelvin bridge
• Schering bridge
• Wien bridge

A bridge is a structure built to span a valley, road, body of water, or other physical obstacle, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle. Designs of bridges vary depending on the function of the bridge, the nature of the terrain where the bridge is constructed, the material used to make it and the funds available to build it.