'To be off the hinges' definitions:

Definition of 'To be off the hinges'

From: GCIDE
  • Hinge \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]

Words containing 'To be off the hinges'