Bridesman
(Brides"man) n.; pl. Bridesmen A male friend who attends upon a bridegroom and bride
at their marriage; the "best man." Sir W. Scott.
Bridestake
(Bride"stake`) n. A stake or post set in the ground, for guests at a wedding to dance round.
Divide the broad bridecake
Round about the bridestake.
B. Jonson.
Bridewell
(Bride"well) n. A house of correction for the confinement of disorderly persons; — so called
from a hospital built in 1553 near St. Bride's (or Bridget's) well, in London, which was subsequently a
penal workhouse.
Bridge
(Bridge) n. [OE. brig, brigge, brug, brugge, AS. brycg, bricg; akin to Fries. bregge, D. brug,
OHG. brucca, G. brücke, Icel. bryggja pier, bridge, Sw. brygga, Dan. brygge, and prob. Icel. bru
bridge, Sw. & Dan. bro bridge, pavement, and possibly to E. brow.]
1. A structure, usually of wood, stone, brick, or iron, erected over a river or other water course, or over
a chasm, railroad, etc., to make a passageway from one bank to the other.
2. Anything supported at the ends, which serves to keep some other thing from resting upon the object
spanned, as in engraving, watchmaking, etc., or which forms a platform or staging over which something
passes or is conveyed.
3. (Mus.) The small arch or bar at right angles to the strings of a violin, guitar, etc., serving of raise
them and transmit their vibrations to the body of the instrument.
4. (Elec.) A device to measure the resistance of a wire or other conductor forming part of an electric
circuit.
5. A low wall or vertical partition in the fire chamber of a furnace, for deflecting flame, etc.; — usually
called a bridge wall.
Aqueduct bridge. See Aqueduct. — Asses' bridge, Bascule bridge, Bateau bridge. See under
Ass, Bascule, Bateau. — Bridge of a steamer (Naut.), a narrow platform across the deck, above
the rail, for the convenience of the officer in charge of the ship; in paddlewheel vessels it connects the
paddle boxes. — Bridge of the nose, the upper, bony part of the nose. — Cantalever bridge. See
under Cantalever. — Draw bridge. See Drawbridge. — Flying bridge, a temporary bridge suspended
or floating, as for the passage of armies; also, a floating structure connected by a cable with an anchor
or pier up stream, and made to pass from bank to bank by the action of the current or other means. —
Girder bridge or Truss bridge, a bridge formed by girders, or by trusses resting upon abutments
or piers. — Lattice bridge, a bridge formed by lattice girders. — Pontoon bridge, Ponton bridge.
See under Pontoon. — Skew bridge, a bridge built obliquely from bank to bank, as sometimes required
in railway engineering. — Suspension bridge. See under Suspension. — Trestle bridge, a bridge
formed of a series of short, simple girders resting on trestles. — Tubular bridge, a bridge in the form
of a hollow trunk or rectangular tube, with cellular walls made of iron plates riveted together, as the Britannia
bridge over the Menai Strait, and the Victoria bridge at Montreal. — Wheatstone's bridge (Elec.), a
device for the measurement of resistances, so called because the balance between the resistances to
be measured is indicated by the absence of a current in a certain wire forming a bridge or connection
between two points of the apparatus; — invented by Sir Charles Wheatstone.
Bridge
(Bridge) v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bridged (brijd); p. pr. & vb. n. Bridging.]
1. To build a bridge or bridges on or over; as, to bridge a river.
Their simple engineering bridged with felled trees the streams which could not be forded.
Palfrey.
