DictionaryAI

gate

GAYT/ɡeɪt/

Pluralgates

Verbgates, gating, gated

25 meanings of gate

Practice

  1. 1
    swinging barriernouncountable
    A movable barrier, usually hinged, that closes an opening in a fence, wall, or hedge.

    She closed the garden gate behind her so the dog couldn't get out.

    Please shut the gate after you cross the field.

    UsageUsual verbs: open, shut, close or lock a gate. People wait or meet at the gate.

    Similarbarrier

  2. 2
    way through (wall)nouncountable
    An opening or passage that gives access through a fence or wall.

    A narrow gate in the stone wall led to the orchard.

    Visitors enter the park through a wide gate in the iron fence.

    Similarentrance, doorway, passage

    Note

    The meaning closest to the word's roots: Old English ġeat goes back to a Germanic word for "hole, opening," so the gap in the wall came first and the panel hung in it came later. The Peking Gazettes of 1870 use it for named palace gateways passed through one after another.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • Gate derives from Old English ġeat and ultimately a Germanic word meaning hole or opening. en.wiktionary.org
    • The opening sense preceded the barrier sense. en.wikipedia.org
    • The cited material was published in 1870. archive.org
    • The cited passage describes successive passage through named palace gateways. en.wiktionary.org
  3. 3
    airport boardingnouncountable
    A passageway in an air terminal where passengers board or leave an aircraft.

    Passengers lined up at the gate as boarding began.

    The flight was delayed, so we sat near the gate for hours.

    UsagePassengers wait at the gate. With a number, there is no article and often a capital: leaves from Gate 12.

  4. 4
    fence offverbtransitive
    To fit or provide something with a gate.

    Developers gated the community to control who could enter.

    The council voted to gate the alley behind the shops.

    UsageMost common as the adjective gated: a gated community, a gated estate.

    Similarfence, enclose

  5. 5
    allow only someverbtransitive
    To selectively control or restrict access to something.

    The platform gates premium content behind a subscription.

    Administrators gate access to sensitive files for security.

    UsageOften gate something behind a login, paywall or subscription; also as an adjective: gated content.

    Similarrestrict, limit, control, lock

    Oppositeopen, unlock

  6. 6
    entry to regionnouncountable
    A location that serves as a channel for transport, migration, or trade.

    For centuries, the narrow pass was the main gate between east and west.

    Historically, the harbor was the gate through which most goods entered the kingdom.

    UsageOften followed by to or between: the gate to the east. Gateway is a common alternative.

    Similarportal, doorway, conduit, corridor

  7. 7
    ticket moneynouncountable
    The total money earned from selling tickets to a concert or sports event.

    The promoter counted the gate after the final whistle.

    Ticket prices rose, but the gate still fell short of expectations.

    UsageUsually the gate, singular: the gate was down. Also in gate receipts and gate money.

    Similartakings, receipts, proceeds, revenue

  8. 8
    logic circuitnouncountable
    A logic element built from switches that turns its output on or off according to a rule such as AND, OR, or NAND.

    A NAND gate outputs zero only when both of its inputs are high.

    Engineers combined thousands of gates to build the processor.

    UsageThe type goes first, usually in capitals: an AND gate, a NAND gate. Outside electronics, say logic gate.

    Note

    Each type computes one Boolean function, turning one or more binary inputs into a single output. AND, OR, NOT, NAND and NOR are elementary types, and more complex logic is composed from them.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • A logic gate implements a Boolean function with one or more binary inputs and a single output. digital.library.unt.edu
    • More complex logic can be composed from the listed gates. digilent.com
  9. 9
    transistor terminalnouncountable
    The controlling terminal of a field-effect transistor, the one whose voltage regulates current flow between the other two terminals.

    Applying voltage to the gate opens a conducting channel in the transistor.

    The gate draws almost no current because it is insulated from the channel.

    Note

    Here the word works at the transistor level, one size smaller than the logic-circuit sense: a logic gate can be built from field-effect transistors, and each of those has a gate of its own. Voltage applied here controls the channel between source and drain. In a MOSFET a thin oxide layer insulates it from that channel, so it draws almost no steady current.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Field-effect transistors have gates. Logic gates can also use bipolar transistors, whose terminals are base, emitter and collector. ti.com
    • Gate voltage controls conduction through the source–drain channel. e3s-center.berkeley.edu
    • A MOSFET's gate is insulated by a thin oxide layer and draws almost no steady input current. pages.hmc.edu
  10. 10
    open cell channelverbtransitive
    To control the opening and closing of an ion channel, and so regulate the flow of ions across a membrane.

    Voltage changes gate the sodium channel, triggering the nerve impulse.

    Specific ligands gate these receptors to admit calcium ions.

    UsageMost common in compounds that name the trigger: voltage-gated, ligand-gated channels.

    Similaropen, activate

    Note

    Biochemists make the stimulus the subject: a voltage change, a binding ligand or mechanical stress gates a channel. The noun gating names the whole business of a channel opening and closing.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of gate apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1–13, 15–17

Proto-Germanic *gatą ("hole, opening") led to Proto-West Germanic *gat and then Old English 'ġeat' ("gate"), which became Middle English 'gate'. Old Norse 'gat', Swedish and Dutch 'gat', and Low German 'Gaat' are related.

Meanings 14, 18

Proto-Germanic *gatwǭ gave Old Norse 'gata', which English borrowed. Its cognates are Danish 'gade', Swedish 'gata', and German 'Gasse' ("lane"), and 'gait' is a doublet.