Noah Webster
Hinge
HINGE, noun hinj. [This word appears to be connected with hang, and with angle, the verb.]
1. The hook or joint on which a door or gate turns.
The gate self-opened wide
On golden hinges turning.
2. That on which any thing depends or turns; a governing principle, rule or point. This argument was the hinge on which the question turned.
3. A cardinal point; as east, west, north or south. [Little Used.]
To be off the hinges, is to be in a state of disorder or irregularity.
HINGE, verb transitive To furnish with hinges.
1. To bend. [Little Used.]
HINGE, verb intransitive To stand, depend or turn, as on a hinge The question hinges on this single point.