- 1 [countable] a barrier like a door that is used to close an opening in a fence or a wall outside a building an iron gate He pushed open the garden gate. A crowd gathered at the factory gates. the gates of the city see also lychgate, starting gate Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectivefront, main, entrance, … … of gatesset verb + gateopen, bar, close, … gate + verbopen, swing open, close, … prepositionthrough a/the gate See full entry See related entries: In the garden
- 2 [countable] an opening that can be closed by a gate or gates We drove through the palace gates. Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectivefront, main, entrance, … … of gatesset verb + gateopen, bar, close, … gate + verbopen, swing open, close, … prepositionthrough a/the gate See full entry
- 3[countable] a barrier that is used to control the flow of water on a river or canal a lock/sluice gate Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectivefront, main, entrance, … … of gatesset verb + gateopen, bar, close, … gate + verbopen, swing open, close, … prepositionthrough a/the gate See full entry
- 4 [countable] a way out of an airport through which passengers go to get on their plane BA flight 726 to Paris is now boarding at gate 16. Wordfinderairportairport, baggage reclaim, board, check-in, gate, immigration, lounge, passport, security, terminal Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectivefront, main, entrance, … … of gatesset verb + gateopen, bar, close, … gate + verbopen, swing open, close, … prepositionthrough a/the gate See full entry See related entries: Airports
- 5[countable] the number of people who attend a sports event Tonight's game has attracted the largest gate of the season.
- 6(also gate money) [uncountable] the amount of money made by selling tickets for a sports event Today's gate will be given to charity.
- 7-gate (forming nouns from the names of people or places; used especially in newspapers) a political scandal connected with the person or place mentioned From Watergate, the scandal in the United States that brought about the resignation of President Nixon in 1974.
- 8(computing) = logic gate Word OriginOld English gæt, geat, plural gatu, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch gat ‘gap, hole, breach’.Extra examples Don’t forget to shut the gate when you leave. Go through the gate and continue down the track. He led us through a gate into a little garden. The defenders had closed and barred all the city gates. The gate shut behind him. The great gates of the abbey were shut fast. The heavy gate swung open. The horses began entering the starting gate. a set of ornamental gates a wide driveway with double gates The enemy army had reached the gates of the city. The only way in was through a heavy iron gate.
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