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Gates

[geyts]
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noun
  1. Horatio,1728–1806, American Revolutionary general, born in England.
  2. WilliamBill, born 1956, U.S. entrepreneur.
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gate1

[geyt]
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), gat·ed, gat·ing.
  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.
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verb (used without object), gat·ed, gat·ing.
  1. Metallurgy. to make or use a gate.
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Idioms
  1. get the gate, Slang. to be dismissed, sent away, or rejected.
  2. give (someone) the gate, Slang.
    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.
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Origin of gate1

before 900; Middle English gat, gate, Old English geat (plural gatu); cognate with Low German, Dutch gat hole, breach; cf. gate2
Can be confusedgait gate

gate2

[geyt]
noun
  1. Archaic. a path; way.
  2. North England and Scot.. habitual manner or way of acting.
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Origin of gate2

1150–1200; Middle English < Old Norse gata path; perhaps akin to Old English geat gate1; cf. gat3
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

bar, fence, exit, door, port, doorway, conduit, opening, lock, passage, access, egress, portal, way, issue, gateway, slammer, weir, portcullis, turnstile

Examples from the Web for gates

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Ask the poor fisherman at the gates, who has been to him as a brother; and he will answer 'Anaxagoras.'

    Philothea

    Lydia Maria Child

  • The lower classes of tradesmen were generally placed near the gates.

    Philothea

    Lydia Maria Child

  • And while he slept the gates were closing and barring the way.

  • The gates stand open, and there are three thousand of them within the walls.

    The White Company

    Arthur Conan Doyle

  • The gates were closed, and not a man was to be seen on the battlements.

British Dictionary definitions for gates

Gates

noun
  1. Bill, full name William Henry Gates. born 1955, US computer-software executive and philanthropist; founder (1976) of Microsoft Corporation
  2. Henry Louis. born 1950, US scholar and critic, who pioneered African-American studies in such works as Figures in Black (1987)
  3. Horatio. ?1728–1806, American Revolutionary general: defeated the British at Saratoga (1777)
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gate1

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
    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 aircraftpassengers 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 (tr)
  1. to provide with a gate or gates
  2. British 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
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Derived Formsgateless, adjectivegatelike, adjective

Word Origin

Old English geat; related to Old Frisian jet opening, Old Norse gat opening, passage

gate2

noun dialect
  1. the channels by which molten metal is poured into a mould
  2. the metal that solidifies in such channels
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Word Origin

C17: probably related to Old English gyte a pouring out, geotan to pour

gate3

noun Scot and Northern English dialect
  1. a way, road, street, or path
  2. a way or method of doing something
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Word Origin

C13: from Old Norse gata path; related to Old High German gazza road, street
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for gates

gate

n.

"opening, entrance," Old English geat (plural geatu) "gate, door, opening, passage, hinged framework barrier," from Proto-Germanic *gatan (cf. Old Norse gat "opening, passage," Old Saxon gat "eye of a needle, hole," Old Frisian gat "hole, opening," Dutch gat "gap, hole, breach," German Gasse "street"), of unknown origin. Meaning "money collected from selling tickets" dates from 1896 (short for gate money, 1820). Gate-crasher is from 1927. Finnish katu, Lettish gatua "street" are Germanic loan-words.

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gate

v.

"provide with a gate," 1906, from gate (n.). Originally of moulds. Related: Gated (1620s). Gated community recorded by 1989 (earliest reference to Emerald Bay, Laguna Beach, Calif.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with gates

gate

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

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.