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bridge

/bɹɪd͡ʒ/noun, verb

bridge is spelled B-R-I-D-G-E: 6 letters and one syllable. It appears 59 times per million words in written English, the 1,758th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, bridge means “A construction spanning a waterway, ravine, or valley from a height, allowing for the passage of vehicles, pedestrians, trains, etc” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of bridge is bridges.

How many letters and syllables are in bridge?

Letters6: B-R-I-D-G-E
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing59 times per million words; the 1,758th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is bridge?

Bridge appears 59 times per million words in written English, the 1,758th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce bridge?

  • /bɹɪd͡ʒ/

Bridge has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-bridge.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of bridge

  • bridges plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • brig
  • brigge
  • bridging participle, present
  • bridged participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does bridge mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A construction spanning a waterway, ravine, or valley from a height, allowing for the passage of vehicles, pedestrians, trains, etc.

    The rope bridge crosses the river.

  2. 2

    The upper bony ridge of the human nose.

    Rugby players often break the bridge of their noses.

  3. 3

    A prosthesis replacing one or several adjacent teeth.

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

  4. 4

    The gap between the holes on a bowling ball

  5. 5

    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.

  6. 6

    The piece, on string instruments, that supports the strings from the sounding board.

  7. 7

    A particular form of one hand placed on the table to support the cue when making a shot in cue sports.

  8. 8

    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.

  9. 9

    Any of a certain family of trick-taking card games.

    Bidding is an essential element of the game of bridge.

  10. 10

    A card game played with four players playing as two teams of two players each.

    She played in a bridge tournament in Las Vegas last year.

verb

  1. 1

    To be or make a bridge over something.

    With enough cable, we can bridge this gorge.

  2. 2

    To span as if with a bridge.

    The two groups were able to bridge their differences.

  3. 3

    To transition from one piece or section of music to another without stopping.

    We need to bridge that jam into "The Eleven".

  4. 4

    To connect two or more computer buses, networks etc. with a bridge.

  5. 5

    To go to the bridge position.

  6. 6

    To employ the bridge tactic. (See Noun section.)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Bridge in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpont (construction or natural feature that spans a…), bridge ((dentistry) replacement for teeth), passerelle ((nautical) platform above the upper deck), chevalet ((music, lutherie) piece on string instruments), fondre (music: to transition from one piece or section…), relier (computing, communication: to connect with a…)
GermanBrücke, Brugg (construction or natural feature that spans a…), Zahnbrücke ((dentistry) replacement for teeth), überwechseln (music: to transition from one piece or section…), Nasenrücken ((anatomy) bony ridge of the nose), überbrücken (to make a bridge)
Portugueseponte (construction or natural feature that spans a…), passadiço ((nautical) platform above the upper deck), cavalete ((music, lutherie) piece on string instruments), superar (to span as if with a bridge), bridge (card game)
Spanishpuente, bóveda (construction or natural feature that spans a…), pontear (to make a bridge), bridge (card game)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does bridge come from?

From Middle English brigge, from Old English brycġ (“bridge”), from Proto-West Germanic *bruggju, from Proto-Germanic *brugjō, *brugjǭ (“bridge”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerw-, *bʰrēw- (“wooden flooring, decking, bridge”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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