(Hebrews tsir), that on which a door revolves. "Doors in the East turn rather on pivots than on what we term hinges. In Syria, and especially in the Hauran, there are many ancient doors, consisting of stone slabs with pivots carved out of the same piece inserted in sockets above and below, and fixed during the building of the house" (Proverbs 26:14).

Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (n.) 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.

2. (n.) 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.

3. (n.) One of the four cardinal points, east, west, north, or south.

4. (v. t.) To attach by, or furnish with, hinges.

5. (v. t.) To bend.

6. (v. i.) To stand, depend, hang, or turn, as on a hinge; to depend chiefly for a result or decision or for force and validity; -- usually with on or upon; as, the argument hinges on this point.