Gate

/ɡeɪt/ name, noun, verb, slang

name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: A doorlike structure outside a house.
  • Grammar: gate is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
  • Nearest alternatives: logic gate, aboideau, access, admission revenue.
  • Useful contrasts: allow, costs, expenditure.
  • Usage evidence: The Golden Gate Bridge is made of iron.

How to use "gate"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "gate" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "gate" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "gate" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "gate" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "gate" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "logic gate" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "gate", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A doorlike structure outside a house.
  2. 2
    A way, path. Northern-England, Scotland

    "I was going to be an honest man; but the devil has this very day flung first a lawyer, and then a woman, in my gate."

  3. 3
    gifted and talented education abbreviation, acronym, uncountable
  4. 4
    a movable barrier in a fence or wall wordnet
  5. 5
    A doorway, opening, or passage in a fence or wall.

    "At 7, he made his exit through the Ch‘ien-ch‘ing and the Lung-tsung gates, and thence, through the Yung-Hang Gate he entered the Tz‘u-ning Palace."

Show 23 more definitions
  1. 6
    A journey. obsolete

    "[…] nought regarding, they kept on their gate, / And all her vaine allurements did forsake […]"

  2. 7
    a computer circuit with several inputs but only one output that can be activated by particular combinations of inputs wordnet
  3. 8
    A movable barrier.

    "The gate in front of the railroad crossing went up after the train had passed."

  4. 9
    A street; now used especially as a combining form to make the name of a street e.g. "Briggate" (a common street name in the north of England meaning "Bridge Street") or Kirkgate meaning "Church Street". Northern-England, Scotland
  5. 10
    passageway (as in an air terminal) where passengers can embark or disembark wordnet
  6. 11
    A passageway (as in an air terminal) where passengers can embark or disembark.
  7. 12
    Manner; gait. British, Scotland, archaic, dialectal
  8. 13
    total admission receipts at a sports event wordnet
  9. 14
    A location which serves as a conduit for transport, migration, or trade.

    "Lyons and Fisher's stations, who have spared nothing to ensure a success on this point, there is every reason to believe that the Northern Territory will soon be able to make a proper use of her geographical position, and become the gate of the East for all the Australian colonies."

  10. 15
    The amount of money made by selling tickets to a concert or a sports event.
  11. 16
    A logical pathway made up of switches which turn on or off. Examples are and, or, nand, etc.
  12. 17
    The controlling terminal of a field effect transistor (FET).
  13. 18
    In a lock tumbler, the opening for the stump of the bolt to pass through or into.
  14. 19
    The channel or opening through which metal is poured into the mould; the ingate; tedge.
  15. 20
    The waste piece of metal cast in the opening; a sprue or sullage piece. Also written geat and git.
  16. 21
    The gap between a batsman's bat and pad.

    "Singh was bowled through the gate, a very disappointing way for a world-class batsman to get out."

  17. 22
    A mechanism, in a film camera and projector, that holds each frame momentarily stationary behind the aperture.

    "After all, not using film has advantages other than cost: the curse of getting a hair in the gate (the rectangular opening at the front of a camera) is gone; the problem of getting dirt on the film swept away."

  18. 23
    A line that separates particle type-clusters on two-dimensional dot plots.
  19. 24
    A tally mark consisting of four vertical bars crossed by a diagonal, representing a count of five.
  20. 25
    An individual theme park as part of a larger resort complex with multiple parks.

    "It would encompass more than 500 acres and include a new theme park, several hotels, two mammoth parking garages with direct access from the freeway and a "third gate" — land set aside for future expansion."

  21. 26
    A place where drugs are illegally sold. slang

    "The gangs were fighting for control of "drug gates," control points for the sale of crack cocaine, heroin and marijuana."

  22. 27
    A man; a male person. dated

    "Whatcha gonna say there, gate?"

  23. 28
    A tunnel serving the coal face.
Verb
  1. 1
    To keep something inside by means of a closed gate. transitive
  2. 2
    restrict (school boys') movement to the dormitory or campus as a means of punishment wordnet
  3. 3
    To punish (a student) by not allowing to leave the college grounds. dated, historical, transitive

    "You climbed the wall, for which you ought to be gated; and finally, you came in blotto, for which you ought to be sent down."

  4. 4
    control with a valve or other device that functions like a gate wordnet
  5. 5
    To open (a closed ion channel). transitive
Show 4 more definitions
  1. 6
    supply with a gate wordnet
  2. 7
    To furnish with a gate. transitive
  3. 8
    To turn (an image intensifier) on and off selectively, as needed or to avoid damage from excessive light exposure. See autogating. transitive
  4. 9
    To selectively regulate or restrict (access to something). transitive

    "Lillian walked the halls wearing a shirt plastered with what she assured everyone was a memetic stun agent; it looked just like the kill agent gating access to the SCP-001 database file, but as she patiently explained to McInnis, in art, context is everything."

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A ghost town in Scott County, Arkansas, United States.
  2. 2
    A tiny town in Beaver County, Oklahoma, United States.
  3. 3
    An unincorporated community in Thurston County, Washington, United States.

Synonyms

All synonyms
logic gateaboideauaccessadmission revenueadmissionsair lock

Example

"The Golden Gate Bridge is made of iron."

Common questions

What does "gate" mean?

A doorlike structure outside a house.

What is a synonym for "gate"?

Common synonyms include: logic gate, aboideau, access, admission revenue, admissions, air lock.

How do you use "gate" in a sentence?

The Golden Gate Bridge is made of iron.

How do you pronounce "gate"?

Pronounced /ɡeɪt/.

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English gate, gat, ȝate, ȝeat, from Old English ġeat (“gate”), from Proto-West Germanic *gat, from Proto-Germanic *gatą (“hole, opening”). See also Old Norse gat, Swedish and Dutch gat, Low German Gaat, Gööt.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Old Norse gata, from Proto-Germanic *gatwǭ. Cognate with Danish gade, Swedish gata, German Gasse (“lane”). Doublet of gait.

More for "gate"

Synonyms

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