tailgater
1 Americannoun
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a person who drives hazardously close to the rear of another moving vehicle.
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a person who participates in a tailgate picnic.
noun
Etymology
Origin of tailgater1
Origin of tailgater2
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.
In case you hate tailgaters too, or are a tailgater yourself, here’s what to do:
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 23, 2025
Around 70 people breach Gate K disabled pass gate, when staff use it to eject a tailgater.
From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2021
Williams, another avid tailgater who hosts his own group, purchased a bus he calls “the Diesel” — pimped out with TVs inside to watch other NFL games and places to sit.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 22, 2017
Looking as comfortable in the snow as a Norwegian tailgater, Drew Bledsoe threw for 259 yards in Washington State's 42-23 win in the 1992 Apple Cup.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 27, 2013
Israetel, who also has a PhD in sports science, described the psychological push and pull, using the example of a highway tailgater.
From Washington Post
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.
