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gate 1 (gāt)
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n.
1. A structure that can be swung, drawn, or lowered to block an entrance or a passageway.
2.
a. An opening in a wall or fence for entrance or exit.
b. The structure surrounding such an opening, such as the monumental or fortified entrance to a palace or walled city.
3.
a. A doorway or walkway in a terminal, as at an airport, through which passengers proceed when embarking or disembarking.
b. A waiting area inside a terminal, abutting such a doorway or walkway.
4. A means of access: the gate to riches.
5. A mountain pass.
6. The total paid attendance or admission receipts at a public event: a good gate at the football game.
7. A device for controlling the passage of water or gas through a dam or conduit.
8. The channel through which molten metal flows into a shaped cavity of a mold.
9. Sports A passage between two upright poles through which a skier must go in a slalom race.
10. A logic gate.
tr.v. gat·ed, gat·ing, gates
1. Chiefly British To confine (a student) to the grounds of a college as punishment.
2. Electronics To select part of (a wave) for transmission, reception, or processing by magnitude or time interval.
3. To furnish with a gate: "The entrance to the rear lawn was also gated" (Dean Koontz).
Idioms:
get the gate Slang
To be dismissed or rejected.
give (someone) the gate Slang
1. To discharge from a job.
2. To reject or jilt.
[Middle English, from Old English geat.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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