Floodgate
name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 An adjustable gate or valve used to control the flow of water through a sluice.
"At the start of the Second World War floodgates would be installed at the ends of the under-Thames sections of the Bakerloo and Northern lines to save them from inundation should bombs damage the riverbed."
- 2 regulator consisting of a valve or gate that controls the rate of water flow through a sluice wordnet
- 3 Anything that controls or limits an outpouring of people, emotion, etc. figuratively
"“The floodgates for advertising on cable are down,” says Michael Dann, a leading consultant on cable television."
- 4 something that restrains a flood or outpouring wordnet
- 5 A stream that passes through a floodgate; a torrent. obsolete
"Out of her gored wound the cruell ſteel / He lightly ſnatcht, and did the floodgate ſtop / VVith his faire garment: then gan ſoftly feel her feeble pulſe, to proue if any drop / Of liuing blood yet in her veynes did hop"
- 1 A series of allegations of corruption, mismanagement, and irregularities in flood control projects in the Philippines during and before the administration of President Bongbong Marcos. Philippine, neologism
Example
More examples"At the start of the Second World War floodgates would be installed at the ends of the under-Thames sections of the Bakerloo and Northern lines to save them from inundation should bombs damage the riverbed."
Etymology
From Middle English flodegate, flodgate, flodeyate, floodȝate, flodȝete, equivalent to flood + gate.
From floodgate.
Related phrases
More for "floodgate"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.