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• gate
  gate

  noun

  a movable barrier, usually on hinges, closing an opening in a fence, wall, or other enclosure.
• -gate
  -gate

  a combining form extracted from Watergate, occurring as the final element in journalistic coinages, usually nonce words, that name scandals resulting from concealed crime or other alleged improprieties in government or business.

gate

¹ American  

[geyt] / geɪt /

noun

1. a movable barrier, usually on hinges, closing an opening in a fence, wall, or other enclosure.

2. an opening permitting passage through an enclosure.

3. a tower, architectural setting, etc., for defending or adorning such an opening or for providing a monumental entrance to a street, park, etc..

   the gates of the walled city;

   the palace gate.

4. any means of access or entrance.

   The gate to stardom is talent.

5. a mountain pass.

6. any movable barrier, as at a tollbooth or a road or railroad crossing.

7. a gateway or passageway in a passenger terminal or pier that leads to a place for boarding a train, plane, or ship.

8. a sliding barrier for regulating the passage of water, steam, or the like, as in a dam or pipe; valve.

9. Skiing.

   1. an obstacle in a slalom race, consisting of two upright poles anchored in the snow a certain distance apart.

   2. the opening between these poles, through which a competitor in a slalom race must ski.

10. the total number of persons who pay for admission to an athletic contest, a performance, an exhibition, etc.

11. the total receipts from such admissions.

12. Cell Biology. a temporary channel in a cell membrane through which substances diffuse into or out of a cell.

13. Movies. film gate.

14. a sash or frame for a saw or gang of saws.

15. Metallurgy.

    1. Also called ingate.  a channel or opening in a mold through which molten metal is poured into the mold cavity.

    2. the waste metal left in such a channel after hardening.

16. Electronics.

    1. a signal that makes an electronic circuit operative or inoperative either for a certain time interval or until another signal is received.

    2. Also called logic gate.  a circuit with one output that is activated only by certain combinations of two or more inputs.

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verb (used with object)

• gates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• gated,
  past participle,  past
• gating
  present participle

1. (at British universities) to punish by confining to the college grounds.

2. Electronics.

   1. to control the operation of (an electronic device) by means of a gate.

   2. to select the parts of (a wave signal) that are within a certain range of amplitude or within certain time intervals.

verb (used without object)

• gates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• gated,
  past participle,  past
• gating
  present participle

1. Metallurgy. to make or use a gate.

idioms

1. give (someone) the gate,

   1. to reject (a person), as one's fiancé, lover, or friend.

   2. to dismiss from one's employ.

      They gave him the gate because he was caught stealing.

2. get the gate, to be dismissed, sent away, or rejected.

gate ² American  

[geyt] / geɪt /

noun

1. Archaic. a path; way.

2. North England and Scot.. habitual manner or way of acting.

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-gate ³ American  

1. a combining form extracted from Watergate, occurring as the final element in journalistic coinages, usually nonce words, that name scandals resulting from concealed crime or other alleged improprieties in government or business.

   Koreagate.

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gate ¹ British  

/ ɡeɪt /

noun

1. a movable barrier, usually hinged, for closing an opening in a wall, fence, etc

2. an opening to allow passage into or out of an enclosed place

3. any means of entrance or access

4. a mountain pass or gap, esp one providing entry into another country or region

5. 1. the number of people admitted to a sporting event or entertainment

   2. the total entrance money received from them

6. (in a large airport) any of the numbered exits leading to the airfield or aircraft

   passengers for Paris should proceed to gate 14

7. horse racing short for starting gate

8. electronics

   1. a logic circuit having one or more input terminals and one output terminal, the output being switched between two voltage levels determined by the combination of input signals

   2. a circuit used in radar that allows only a fraction of the input signal to pass

9. the electrode region or regions in a field-effect transistor that is biased to control the conductivity of the channel between the source and drain

10. a component in a motion-picture camera or projector that holds each frame flat and momentarily stationary behind the lens

11. a slotted metal frame that controls the positions of the gear lever in a motor vehicle

12. rowing a hinged clasp to prevent the oar from jumping out of a rowlock

13. a frame surrounding the blade or blades of a saw

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verb

1. to provide with a gate or gates

2. to restrict (a student) to the school or college grounds as a punishment

3. to select (part of a waveform) in terms of amplitude or time

gate ² British  

/ ɡeɪt /

noun

1. the channels by which molten metal is poured into a mould

2. the metal that solidifies in such channels

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gate ³ British  

/ ɡeɪt /

noun

1. a way, road, street, or path

2. a way or method of doing something

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-gate ⁴ British  

combining form

1. indicating a person or thing that has been the cause of, or is associated with, a public scandal

   Irangate

   Camillagate

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gate More Idioms  

1. see crash the gate; give someone the air (gate).

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Usage

What does -gate mean? The combining form -gate is used like a suffix meaning “scandal (often resulting from a concealed crime)” or "controversy." It is often used in informal terms, especially in politics and journalism. The form -gate comes from a shortened form of Watergate, a reference to the White House political scandal that came to light during the 1972 presidential campaign. The scandal centered on a break-in at the Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate apartment-office complex in Washington, D. C., and, after congressional hearings, culminated in the resignation of President Nixon in 1974.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• gateless
  adjective
• gatelike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• gating
  present
• gated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• gate
  simple
• gates
  simple
• have gated
  perfect
• has gated
  perfect
• am gating
  progressive
• are gating
  progressive
• is gating
  progressive
• have been gating
  perfect progressive
• has been gating
  perfect progressive

Past

• gated
  simple
• had gated
  perfect
• was gating
  progressive
• were gating
  progressive
• had been gating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will gate
  simple
• will have gated
  perfect
• will be gating
  progressive
• will have been gating
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of gate¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English gat, gate, geat, Old English geat (plural gatu ); cognate with Low German, Dutch gat “hole, breach”; cf. gate ²

Origin of gate²

First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English gate, gat, gata, from Old Norse gata “path, way, road,” Old High German gazza, German Gasse “lane, alley”; perhaps akin to Old English geat gate ¹; cf. gat ³

Explanation

A gate is a moveable barrier that closes or opens a gap in a wall or fence. A garden gate might swing on rusty hinges, when closed helping to keep deer away from your vegetables. A pasture gate keeps cattle or horses safe inside a fence, and if you visit someone who lives in a gated community, you'll have to be buzzed in before the gate opens to allow you inside. You'll also find gates at the airport — they're the areas with doors leading out to the airplane. The Old English source of gate is geat, "gate, door, opening, or passage."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gate -gate gates gated gating

The staff member, who left the school after him, "had probably wanted to close the gate", he said.

From Barron's ● Sep. 6, 2026

Want to accompany a friend or family member to their gate or greet them upon arrival?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

A gate that, as of Wednesday, had two locks on it opens onto a path that leads to the house.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

“I’m not going to be playing it for, like, 20 hours straight like an absentee father. But right out of the gate we’re going hard.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

The ground is made of that speckled squishy stuff that means he’s not likely to get hurt even if he falls, and the gate is closed, so he’s contained in here.

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison

That's far from the only scandal to rock the world of curling: The sport was also hit with two doping scandals during the 2010 Paralympics, and created another "-gate" scandal with 2009's "Dumpgate."

From Salon ● Feb. 19, 2022

Meanwhile, Nixon still hovers in the dark shadows of American history, the jowly-faced villain tattooed on Roger Stone’s back, and his signature scandal has provided shorthand for every other -gate scandal that’s followed.

From New York Times ● Feb. 15, 2022

At a time when the U.S. president is facing impeachment — and the -gate suffix seems ubiquitous — the stage for the exhibition is a found object in its own right.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 14, 2019

People are talking about “threadfefes”, apparently, although the lack of a clear meaning makes the suffix harder to apply than, say, -gate.

From The Guardian ● May 31, 2017

Wick′et-door, -gate, a wicket; Wick′et-keep′er, in cricket, the fieldsman who stands immediately behind the wicket.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various

The announcement of the man’s death comes amid severe weather conditions, including heavy rain and wind, that have shut down the festival’s entrance gates several times in recent days.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026

Prisoners will now qualify for their earlier release from 1 October and officials estimate that around 700 will walk out of the prison gates that day.

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026

Clear is in 62 airports and says the biometric gates are available in 80% of them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

Using those logical qubits, the team carried out 2,415 logical two-qubit operations and 468 logical "T gates," two measures that reflect the complexity of the quantum circuit.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026

I wave goodbye and head for the gates of the graveyard, where a few yellow leaves have already fallen onto the grass.

From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish

The state has more than 216,000 publicly available EV chargers, meaning they’re not in an employee garage that requires a badge or in a gated apartment complex.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026

To get there, you drive deep into rural Leicestershire, to a gated house where you're greeted by his wife, Amy, and two gorgeous but "unruly" dogs.

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

For a time, the internet did put a Band-Aid on this problem, bringing isolated communities together and providing the sort of crosstalk they couldn’t hear on the abandoned sidewalks of gated developments.

From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026

The 300-acre island is accessible only by boat or by a single gated bridge and maintains its own private police force.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026

Then he drew his sword as well, and followed the others through a gated archway that the Tonists always left open for lost souls seeking tonal solace.

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman

The spinal cord contains "gating" circuits that normally suppress mechanical itch signals, allowing them to pass through only under specific conditions.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 14, 2026

If funds keep having to pay out 5% of their assets quarter after quarter, some might be forced into fire sales or could freeze withdrawals altogether, a process called gating.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026

PSPOs replace earlier measures such as designated public place orders, gating orders, and dog control orders.

From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026

“If these companies didn’t have gating provisions, this would be real trouble.”

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 3, 2026

Every weaver had his own way of gating, and his own little tricks of weaving.

From In the Days of the Guild by Louise Lamprey

Related Words

• bar
• door
• doorway
• exit
• fence
• port