gate 1  (g āt)
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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.
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