1. [n]  a joint that holds two parts together so that one can swing relative to the other
2. [n]  a circumstance upon which subsequent events depend; "his absence is the hinge of our plan"
3. [v]  attach with a hinge

1. \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}.]
   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.
            The gate self-opened wide, On golden hinges turning.
                                                  --Milton.
   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.
   3. One of the four cardinal points, east, west, north, or
      south. [R.]
            When the moon is in the hinge at East. --Creech.
            Nor slept the winds . . . but rushed abroad.
                                                  --Milton.
   {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.
   

2. \Hinge\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Hinged}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Hinging}.]
   1. To attach by, or furnish with, hinges.
   2. To bend. [Obs.] --Shak.
   

3. \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
   

(Heb. tsir), that on which a door revolves. "Doors in the East turn rather on pivots than on what we term hinges. In Syria, and especially in the Hauran, there are many ancient doors, consisting of stone slabs with pivots carved out of the same piece inserted in sockets above and below, and fixed during the building of the house" (Prov. 26:14).