starting gate
- any of various types of movable barriers for lining up and giving an equal start to the entries in a horse or dog race.
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Origin of starting gate
First recorded in 1895–1900
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for starting gate
Contemporary Examples
In short, I feel put on the spot, and come up lame right out of the starting-gate.
Historical Examples
So, perfectly calm and very much bored, he danced to the starting-gate on the chestnut filly.
Through a maze of heat, a half-mile distant, at the starting-gate, little spots of color moved in impatient circles.
The Man Who Could Not LoseRichard Harding Davis
Then, amid a murmur of excitement, the starting-gate went up, and the horses were off.
Adrien LeroyCharles Garvice
starting gate
- a movable barrier so placed on the starting line of a racecourse that the raising of it releases all the contestants simultaneously
- the US name for starting stalls
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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