Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Swing \Swing\, n.
The act of swinging; a waving, oscillating, or vibratory motion of a hanging or pivoted object; oscillation; as, the swing of a pendulum.
Swaying motion from one side or direction to the other; as, some men walk with a swing.
A line, cord, or other thing suspended and hanging loose, upon which anything may swing; especially, an apparatus for recreation by swinging, commonly consisting of a rope, the two ends of which are attached overhead, as to the bough of a tree, a seat being placed in the loop at the bottom; also, any contrivance by which a similar motion is produced for amusement or exercise.
-
Influence of power of a body put in swaying motion.
The ram that batters down the wall, For the great swing and rudeness of his poise, They place before his hand that made the engine.
--Shak. Capacity of a turning lathe, as determined by the diameter of the largest object that can be turned in it.
-
Free course; unrestrained liberty or license; tendency. ``Take thy swing.'' --Dryden. To prevent anything which may prove an obstacle to the full swing of his genius. --Burke. Full swing. See under Full. Swing beam (Railway Mach.), a crosspiece sustaining the car body, and so suspended from the framing of a truck that it may have an independent lateral motion. Swing bridge, a form of drawbridge which swings horizontally, as on a vertical pivot. Swing plow, or Swing plough.
A plow without a fore wheel under the beam.
-
A reversible or sidehill plow. Swing wheel.
The scape-wheel in a clock, which drives the pendulum.
The balance of a watch.
Wiktionary
alt. A movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its centre of gravity, about which the turning span can then pivot horizontally. n. A movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its centre of gravity, about which the turning span can then pivot horizontally.
Wikipedia
A swing bridge is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the turning span can then pivot horizontally as shown in the animated illustration to the right. Small swing bridges as found over canals may be pivoted only at one end, opening as would a gate, but require substantial underground structure to support the pivot.
In its closed position, a swing bridge carrying a road or railway over a river or canal, for example, allows traffic to cross. When a water vessel needs to pass the bridge, road traffic is stopped (usually by traffic signals and barriers), and then motors rotate the bridge horizontally about its pivot point. The typical swing bridge will rotate approximately 90 degrees, or one-quarter turn; however, a bridge which intersects the navigation channel at an oblique angle may be built to rotate only 45 degrees, or one-eighth turn, in order to clear the channel.
The Belize City Swing Bridge is a swing bridge located in downtown Belize City, Belize. It connects the north side of Belize City with the south side and spans Haulover Creek, a tributary of the Belize River.
A tourist destination and historical landmark of Belize, it is the oldest swing bridge in Central America and one of the few manually operated swing bridges in the world still in use. The Maritime Museum of Belize is located nearby.
A swing bridge is a movable bridge that swivels to bring a road or other crossingway into place
Swing Bridge may also refer to:
- Swing Bridge (Keeseville, New York), listed on the NRHP
- Swing Bridge, River Tyne
- A simple suspension bridge, referred to as a "swing bridge" in New Zealand
The Swing Bridge in Keeseville, New York over the Ausable River is not a swing bridge. It is a pedestrian suspension bridge that happens to swing, disconcertingly. It was designed and manufactured by the Berlin Iron Bridge Company in 1888 and it crosses from Clinton County, New York to Essex County, New York.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
Usage examples of "swing bridge".
As bridges go, it wasn't much, an obviously very elderly and rickety wooden swing bridge which looked if its own weight would be enough to carry it into the torrent at any moment: what was even worse, it seemed, at first glance, as if its site had been deliberately picked by someone with an unhinged mind, for it lay directly below an enormous boulder some forty feet up the landslide, a boulder so clearly in a highly precarious state of balance that none but the most foolhardy would have lingered in the crossing of the bridge.
They could not be made to cross the swing bridge, would not take to the heights, sudden drops and rocky stairs of the cliff city, and needed absurd amounts of feed to sustain them.
The grunts were struck wide-eyed, slack-jawed and speechless and at least one track nearly drove off the swing bridge and into the water with shock.
After coming through the Canal in a convoy of freighters, after going under the high swing bridge of the Pan American highway, they made the eightmile final leg to Balboa Harbor.
Other searchers soon joined the first ones, and before long, thirty or more gyptian children were racing from end to end of the wharves, running in and out of stables, scrambling over the cranes and derricks in the boatyard, leaping over the fence into the wide meadow, swinging fifteen at a time on the old swing bridge over the green water, and running full pelt through the narrow streets of Jericho, between the little brick terraced houses and into the great square-towered oratory of St.
Other searchers soon joined the first ones, and before long, thirty or more gyptian children were racing from end to end of the wharves, running in and out of stables, scrambling over the cranes and derricks in the boatyard, leaping over the fence into the wide meadow, swinging fifteen at a time on the old swing bridge over the green water, and running full-pelt through the narrow streets of Jericho, between the little brick terraced houses and into the great square-towered oratory of St.
There were the dolphins, black and white, and beyond them open water, miles of it, and the long white railway bridge over Breydon, with the swing bridge in it open for the passing of the steamer.