tailgate

[ teyl-geyt ]

/ ˈteɪlˌgeɪt /

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See synonyms for tailgate on Thesaurus.com

noun

the board or gate at the back of a wagon, truck, station wagon, etc., which can be removed or let down for convenience in loading or unloading.

verb (used without object), tail·gat·ed, tail·gat·ing.

to follow or drive hazardously close to the rear of another vehicle.

verb (used with object), tail·gat·ed, tail·gat·ing.

to follow or drive hazardously close to the rear of (another vehicle).

adjective

pertaining to or set up on a tailgate: a tailgate picnic before the football game.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of tailgate

An Americanism dating back to 1850–55; tail¹ + gate¹

Other definitions for tailgate (2 of 2)

tailgate²

[ teyl-geyt ]

/ ˈteɪlˌgeɪt /

noun Jazz.

a style of playing the trombone, especially in Dixieland jazz, distinguished especially by the use of melodic counterpoint and long glissandi.

Origin of tailgate

First recorded in 1945–50; so called from the usual seat of trombonists in trucks carrying musicians during a parade

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use tailgate in a sentence

The end gate of a prairie schooner was lost on a hill, and Tail Gate mountain came into being.
Down the Mother Lode|Vivia Hemphill
Why don't you get the tail gate of the bed wagon and use that?
Jack the Young Cowboy|George Bird Grinnell
Maybe Frank will lend us the tail gate of his wagon to put over it.
Jack the Young Cowboy|George Bird Grinnell
And now, at the tail gate of every wagon, lashed fast for its last long journey, hung also the family plow.
The Covered Wagon|Emerson Hough

The cook, on being appealed to, declined to lend the tail gate of the cook wagon.
Jack the Young Cowboy|George Bird Grinnell

British Dictionary definitions for tailgate (1 of 2)

tailgate

/ (ˈteɪlˌɡeɪt) /

noun

another name for tailboard

a door at the rear of a hatchback vehicle

verb

to drive very close behind (a vehicle)

Derived forms of tailgate

tailgater, noun

British Dictionary definitions for tailgate (2 of 2)

tail gate

noun

a gate that is used to control the flow of water at the lower end of a lockCompare head gate

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

tailgate

Origin of tailgate

Other definitions for tailgate (2 of 2)

Origin of tailgate

Words related to tailgate

How to use tailgate in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for tailgate (1 of 2)

Derived forms of tailgate

British Dictionary definitions for tailgate (2 of 2)