hinge
/ˈhɪnd͡ʒ/noun, verb
hinge is spelled H-I-N-G-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 19,077th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, hinge means “A jointed or flexible device that allows the pivoting of a door etc” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of hinge is hinges.
How many letters and syllables are in hinge?
| Letters | 5: H-I-N-G-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 2.1 times per million words; the 19,077th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is hinge?
Hinge appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 19,077th 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 hinge?
- /ˈhɪnd͡ʒ/
- [ˈhɪnd͡ʒ]
Hinge has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-hinge.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with hinge?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as hinge.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: neigh.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of hinge
- hinges plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- hinging participle, present
- hingeing participle, present
- hinged participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hinge mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A jointed or flexible device that allows the pivoting of a door etc.
- 2
A naturally occurring joint resembling such hardware in form or action, as in the shell of a bivalve.
- 3
A stamp hinge, a folded and gummed paper rectangle for affixing postage stamps in an album.
- 4
A principle, or a point in time, on which subsequent reasonings or events depend.
This argument was the hinge on which the question turned.
- 5
The median of the upper or lower half of a batch, sample, or probability distribution.
- 6
One of the four cardinal points, east, west, north, or south.
- 7
A movement that presents itself as rotation when an off-centre fixed point is taken into account.
- 8
In polyamory, a person connected emotionally or sexually to two others who are not connected to each other.
verb
- 1
To attach by, or equip with a hinge.
- 2
To depend on something.
- 3
The breaking off of the distal end of a knapped stone flake whose presumed course across the face of the stone core was truncated prematurely, leaving not a feathered distal end but instead the scar of a nearly perpendicular break.
The flake hinged at an inclusion in the core.
- 4
obsoleteTo bend.
- 5
To move or already be positioned in such a fashion that it presents itself as rotation when an off-centre fixed point is taken into account.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hinge in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | gond, charnière , dépendre de, reposer sur |
| German | Angel, Scharnier, Türband, Türangel , abhängen von |
| Portuguese | dobradiça, gonzo , depender de , pôr dobradiças em, colocar dobradiças em |
| Spanish | bisagra, gozne, charnela, quicio , abisagrar, enquiciar |
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 hinge come from?
From Middle English henge (“hinge”), from Old English *henġ or *henġe (“hinge”), from Proto-West Germanic *hangiju or *hangī; compare Old English *henġe- in henġeclif (“overhanging cliff”), Old English henġen (“hanging; that upon which a thing is hung”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).