floodgate
Americannoun
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Civil Engineering. a gate designed to regulate the flow of water.
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anything serving to control the indiscriminate flow or passage of something.
noun
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Also called: head gate. water gate. a gate in a sluice that is used to control the flow of water See also sluicegate
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(often plural) a control or barrier against an outpouring or flow
to open the floodgates to immigration
Etymology
Origin of floodgate
Middle English word dating back to 1175–1225; see origin at flood, gate 1
Explanation
The gates used to control the flow of water over a levee or in a reservoir is called a floodgate. Some floodgates protect areas that are vulnerable to hurricanes or typhoons. There are many kinds of floodgates, all designed to hold water back sometimes and to let it flow at others. A figurative floodgate holds back strong emotion or something equally powerful. You'll most often find this floodgate in the phrase, "Open the floodgates." For example, a school principal might worry that allowing one student to bring his pet rabbit to class will open the floodgates for everyone bringing animals to school.
Vocabulary lists containing floodgate
Free Lunch
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A Mango-Shaped Space
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Wink
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Those verdicts could open the floodgate to a wave of new legal challenges to Meta’s lucrative business.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026
In the thousands of messages I got from across the country, it felt as if a great floodgate of pain and family loneliness was opening.
From BBC • Oct. 10, 2024
Reporting Scope 3 emissions also opens a floodgate of legal issues, as many smaller organizations in a large company’s value chain might have no legal obligation to disclose their own emissions.
From Salon • Mar. 8, 2024
"The environment of an American child has evolved, opening up a huge floodgate of the research we need to be doing. We've overlooked a really important, dynamic component of family life."
From Science Daily • Mar. 6, 2024
Memories rushed back into my mind like a floodgate had been opened.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
