bridgework

From bridge +‎ -work.

bridgework (countable and uncountable, plural bridgeworks)

1. (dentistry) A partial denture that is anchored to existing teeth.
   • 1941, Sullivan's Travels:

     Just think. If you were some big shot like a casting director or something, I'd be staring into your bridgework, saying, 'Yes, Mr. Smearkase; no, Mr. Smearkase; not really, Mr. Smearkase. Oh! Mr. Smearkase, that's my knee!'

2. The construction or repair of bridges.
   • 1940 October, “Notes and News: New Zealand Developments”, in Railway Magazine, page 566:

     Of these Stable Creek bridge, 16 miles from Westport, with ten 40 ft. spans and one 20 ft. span, set on a curve of 20 ch. radius, has been completed, and forms part of 2,290 ft. of bridgework now in position on the new route, which is expected to be in service early in 1941.

   • 1959 April, B. Perren, “The Essex Coast Branches of the Great Eastern Line”, in Trains Illustrated, page 188:

     British Railways have plans to build a loop from the down side of the station to burrow under the Ipswich main line and enable down through trains to reach the Clacton line without having to cross the path of up Ipswich trains at Colchester Junction, but the Essex County Council has objected to the scheme on the grounds that the bridgework involved would interfere with its road improvement plans.

3. The component parts of a bridge.

• “bridgework”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.