From noses to notes, bridges are crucial link

A sampling of the many definitions of the word bridge, taken from the Oxford English Dictionary.

• A structure forming or carrying a road over a river, a ravine, etc., or affording a passage between two points at a height above the ground.

• A narrow ridge of rock, sand, or shingle, across the bottom of a channel.

• The raised narrow deck or platform extending from side to side of a steamer amidships, from which the officer in command directs the motion of the vessel. Also a narrow gangway between two hatchways.

• Short for drawbridge.

• The upper bony part of the nose. Also the curved central part of a pair of spectacles or eye-glasses which rests on the nose.

• A portion of the brain which stretches in a curve between the two lobes of the cerebellum in front of the medulla oblongata.

• In a violin, or similar instrument: A thin, upright piece of wood, over which the strings are stretched, and which transmits their vibrations to the body of the instrument.

• In billiards: The support formed by the left hand in making a stroke.

• In saddlery: A part of the harness resembling a buckle, but without the tongue, to which strapping is looped or sewed.

• In scene painting: A platform suspended in front of a canvas.

• In engraving: A board, supported at each end, used to raise the engraver’s hand above the plate.

• Applied to various utensils of more or less bridge-like form, e.g. a tripod for holding a pot over a fire.

• An electrical circuit for measuring resistance or other properties by equalizing the potential at two points.

• A false tooth or teeth usually connected to the natural teeth on each side.

• The platform or plank-way by which ore or fuel is conveyed to the mouth of a smelting furnace.

• A card game based upon whist.