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. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

The gate self-opened wide,
On golden hinges turning. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. One of the four cardinal points, east, west, north, or south. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

When the moon is in the hinge at East. Creech. [ 1913 Webster ]

Nor slept the winds . . . but rushed abroad. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]