gate

GAYT/ɡeɪt/

Pluralgates

Verbgates, gating, gated

25 meanings of gate

Practice

1
swinging barriernouncountable
A door-like barrier in a fence or wall that opens and closes.
Like an arm that lifts up and down to let cars go or stop.
He opened the gate and walked up to the house.
Close the gate so the sheep stay in.
UsageYou open or shut a gate, and wait at the gate.
Similarbarrier
2
way through (wall)nouncountable
An opening or passage in a fence or wall that people walk through.
Like a door, but in a fence or wall instead of a building.
We walked through the gate into the garden.
The old town wall had a gate on each side.
Similarentrance, doorway, passage
Note
3
airport boardingnouncountable
The place in an airport where you get on or off a plane.
Like a doorway that connects the airport to the plane.
We waited at the gate for our flight to start boarding.
Our gate was at the far end of the airport.
UsageWait at the gate. Say Gate 12, without the word the.
4
fence offverbtransitive
To put a gate on something such as a fence or road.
Like adding a door to the opening in a fence.
The town decided to gate the entrance to the old bridge.
They gated the driveway to keep strangers out.
UsageMost often seen as gated: a gated community.
Similarfence, enclose
5
allow only someverbtransitive
To control or limit who can get into or use something.
Like putting a lock on a door so only some people can go in.
Many sites gate their best articles behind a login.
They gated the chat room so only members could talk.
UsageOften gate something behind a payment or a login.
Similarrestrict, limit, control, lock
Oppositeopen, unlock
6
entry to regionnouncountable
A place that acts as a main way in or out for travel or trade.
Like a front door for a whole country, where people and goods come and go.
The city was a busy gate for trade between the two countries.
For many travelers, this port is the main gate into the region.
UsageOften gate to a place, like gateway to.
Similarportal, doorway, conduit, corridor
7
ticket moneynouncountable
The total money taken from ticket sales at a concert or game.
Like all the money in the ticket box after a big show.
The gate from Saturday's game broke the team's record.
A big crowd meant a large gate for the concert.
UsageSay the gate, or gate money, for the ticket money.
Similartakings, receipts, proceeds, revenue
8
logic circuitnouncountable
A part in a computer circuit that turns a signal on or off using simple logic.
Like a light switch that only turns on when the right buttons are pressed.
An AND gate only turns on when both inputs are on.
Each gate in the chip handles a simple yes-or-no signal.
UsagePut the type first: an AND gate. In general talk, say logic gate.
Note
9
transistor terminalnouncountable
The part of a transistor that controls whether current can flow through it.
Like a tap that controls how much water flows through a pipe.
A small voltage on the gate switches the transistor on.
A small voltage on the gate lets current flow through the transistor.
Note
10
open cell channelverbtransitive
To open and close a tiny channel in a cell, controlling which charged particles flow through.
Like opening a small door to let things in and out.
Certain proteins gate the channel when the voltage changes.
Changes in voltage gate the channels that let sodium into the cell.
UsageMost often seen as voltage-gated or ligand-gated.
Similaropen, activate
Note

Less common meanings

11
shut inverbtransitive
To keep something or someone in by closing a gate.
Like shutting a door so a pet stays in the room.
The farmer gates the sheep at night to keep them safe.
We gate the dog in the yard while we cook.
Similarpen, corral, enclose, confine
Oppositerelease, free
12
ground (punish)verbtransitive
To punish a student by not letting them leave the school grounds for a time.
Like being told you must stay inside and cannot go out to play.
He was gated for a week for breaking the school curfew.
The school can gate students who break curfew.
UsageSchools may gate students. Parents usually ground their children.
Similarground
Note
13
drug spotnounslangcountable
A place where people secretly buy and sell illegal drugs.
Like a secret shop, but the goods are illegal drugs.
Dealers ran a busy gate out of the abandoned lot.
Police shut down a gate where dealers sold pills from an empty house.
UsageOften used in drug gate or weed gate.
Similartrap
Note
14
streetnoundialectalNorthern EnglandScotlandcountable
In northern England and Scotland, an old word for a street or path.
Similarstreet, way
Note
15
tally marknouncountable
A counting mark made of four straight lines with one line crossing them, standing for five.
Like a little fence drawn on paper, where each fence means five.
She drew a gate on the board for every five votes counted.
Each gate on the page stood for five sheep.
16
cricket gapnouncountable
In cricket, the gap between a batter's bat and leg pad.
Like the gap between two doors left slightly open.
The bowler aimed for the gate and clipped the off stump.
The ball went through the gate and knocked over the stumps.
UsageMost often heard as bowled through the gate.
Note
17
mannoundatedcountable
A man or fellow.
Like calling someone 'dude' or 'guy'.
That gate over there plays the hottest trumpet in Harlem.
Whatcha gonna say there, gate?
1939, Cab Calloway, Frank FroebaHere, gate means a man or fellow, an old slang word.
UsageAlso used when speaking to someone, like man.
Similarguy, dude, fellow, bloke, boy
Note
18
nounobsolete
A journey or trip from one place to another.
Note
19
noun
One single theme park that is part of a bigger resort with several parks.
20
noun
The part in a film camera or projector that holds each picture still for a moment behind the opening.
21
noun
In a lock, the small opening that lets the bolt's end pass through.
22
noun
In metal casting, the channel for pouring hot metal into a mold, or the metal left hardened there.
23
noun
In flow cytometry, a line drawn to separate groups of cells on a chart.
24
verb
To switch a light-boosting device on and off quickly to protect it from too much light.
25
noun
In mining, a tunnel that leads to the coal face underground.

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

From Old English 'geat' meaning gate, which came from older Germanic words meaning a hole or opening.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

Gate derives from Old English geat. en.wiktionary.org
Old English geat means gate. en.wiktionary.org
Old English geat derives from older Germanic forms meaning a hole or opening. en.wiktionary.org

Meanings 14, 18

Borrowed from Old Norse 'gata'. It is related to German 'Gasse' meaning lane.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

Gate (in its way or street sense) was borrowed from Old Norse gata. en.wiktionary.org
Gate is related to German Gasse, meaning lane. en.wiktionary.org