gatekeeper

[geyt-kee-per]

noun

1. a person in charge of a gate, usually to identify, count, supervise, etc., the traffic that flows through it.

2. a person or thing that controls access, as to information, often acting as an arbiter of quality or legitimacy: An open internet allows innovators to bypass traditional gatekeepers and promote their work on its own merit.

   Treating office gatekeepers with respect will improve your chances of scheduling a face-to-face meeting or job interview.

   An open internet allows innovators to bypass traditional gatekeepers and promote their work on its own merit.

3. a guardian; monitor.

   the gatekeepers of Western culture.

gatekeeper

/ ˈɡeɪtˌkiːpə /

noun

1. a person who has charge of a gate and controls who may pass through it

2. any of several Eurasian butterflies of the genus Pyronia, esp P. tithonus, having brown-bordered orange wings with a black-and-white eyespot on each forewing: family Satyridae

3. a manager in a large organization who controls the flow of information, esp to parent and subsidiary companies

Word History and Origins

Origin of gatekeeper¹

First recorded in 1565–75; in 1905–10 gatekeeper for defs. 2, 3; gate ¹ + keeper

Example Sentences

"This study suggests that the current approach of relying on risk scores and symptoms as primary gatekeepers for prevention is not optimal," he says.

Read more on Science Daily

S&P Dow Jones Indices, which is the gatekeeper for the S&P 500, doesn’t say why companies are included or not in its indexes.

Read more on Barron's

Twin investigations aim to assess whether the tech giants "should be designated as the gatekeepers on cloud computing," Henna Virkkunen said at a summit in Berlin focused on the push for greater European digital sovereignty.

Read more on Barron's

In the president’s skewed accounting ledger, the gatekeepers at the global country club who don’t want him as a member must be made to pay.

Read more on Salon

Mr. Howard has come to biography writing after a distinguished career in publishing at Doubleday Books, and he discourses with knowledge and zeal about Cowley’s second act as a revivalist and gatekeeper.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• protector