gating

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of gate.

   The studio is gating its back catalog behind a paid plan.

   Gating downloads by region eased the strain on the servers.

   Note

   The -ing form of a verb with an unusually wide reach. One can be gating a pen to keep animals in, gating a teenager by forbidding nights out, gating an ion channel open, or gating an image intensifier on and off. Every use is transitive, so the form wants an object: gating downloads, gating a back catalog. As a gerund it blurs into the noun for restricting access. A following object shows it is still a verb.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   The selective control or limiting of who can reach or use something.

   Like a velvet rope outside a club, deciding who gets through and who waits outside.

   Membership gating ensures only verified users reach the inner forum.

   The company introduced gating to limit access to its beta program.

   Similarrestriction, control

   Note

   Long before paywalls and beta invitations, the word controlled access in metal. The Canadian Patent Office Record of 1954 describes lock tumblers whose gatings must line up before the key plug will turn. That is the countable use, with one gating per tumbler. Used uncountably, it pairs naturally with a modifier naming what is being restricted: membership gating, content gating.

3. 3
   noununcountable

   The control of signal flow according to set conditions or criteria.

   Like a turnstile that lets people through only when the light turns green.

   Noise gating removes the hiss during the silent passages of a recording.

   The circuit relies on gating to pass pulses only at the clock edge.

   Note

   Electronics and signal processing use the word for a switch with a rule attached. A control input decides whether a signal passes, is blocked, or is sampled only during set intervals. Audio work speaks of noise gating, which silences hiss between sounds. In circuits, gating can also switch sections off to reduce power consumption. Compare the access sense, where people rather than pulses are let through.

4. 4
   noununcountable

   The way a set of gates is arranged or laid out.

   The stadium's gating funnels fans toward separate entrances.

   Poor gating at the crossing caused long delays for the herd.

Showing meanings only. Show all 4