- [countable] a structure that is built over a road, railway, river, etc. so that people, vehicles, etc. can cross from one side to the other
- We crossed the bridge over the River Windrush.
- The river was spanned by a railway bridge.
- The plan includes a pedestrian bridge connecting the arena with the convention centre.
- I don't have time to walk across the bridge.
Extra ExamplesTopics Buildingsa2, Geographya2- Cross the bridge and turn right into the town.
- Floods washed away several bridges.
- It was windy driving over the bridge.
- The new bridge will cross the Thames at this point.
- The road goes under the old bridge.
- The soldiers built a pontoon bridge across the Euphrates.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- high
- humpback
- narrow
- …
- build
- destroy
- wash away
- …
- cross something
- span something
- connect something
- …
- across a/the bridge
- over a/the bridge
- under a/the bridge
- …
- [countable] a thing that provides a connection or contact between two different things
- The book serves as a bridge between ancient wisdom and modern science.
- Cultural exchanges are a way of building bridges between countries.
- [countable, usually singular] (usually the bridge)the part of a ship where the captain and other officers stand when they are controlling the ship
- Who was on the bridge when the collision took place?
- [uncountable] a card game for two pairs of players who have to predict how many cards they will win. They score points if they succeed in winning that number of cards and lose points if they fail.
- I enjoy a game of bridge occasionally.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary… of bridge- game
- rubber
- play
- tournament
- partner
- player
- …
- the bridge of somebody’s nose [singular] the hard part at the top of the nose, between the eyesTopics Bodyc2
- [countable] the central part of a pair of glasses that fits over the nose
- [countable] a small piece of wood on a guitar, violin, etc. over which the strings are stretched
- [countable] a false tooth or false teeth, held permanently in place by being fastened to natural teeth on either side
over road/river
connection
of ship
card game
of nose
of glasses
of guitar/violin
false teeth
Word Originnoun senses 1 to 3 and noun senses 5 to 8 Old English brycg (noun), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch brug and German Brücke. noun sense 4 late 19th cent.: of unknown origin.
Idioms
See bridge in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee bridge in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishbuild bridges (between A and B)
- to encourage good relationships between two groups, countries, etc.
- The aim of the project was to build bridges between communities through joint events.
burn your bridges
(British English also burn your boats)
- to do something that makes it impossible to return to the previous situation later
- Think carefully before you resign—you don't want to burn your bridges.
cross that bridge when you come to it
- to worry about a problem when it actually happens and not before
it’s (all) water under the bridge
- used to say that something happened in the past and is now forgotten or no longer important
Check pronunciation:
bridge