gate1

 
Pronunciation: /geɪt/

noun

  • 1a hinged barrier used to close an opening in a wall, fence, or hedge: she closed the front gate figurative they were opening the gates of their country wide to the enemy
  • a gateway: she went out through the gate
  • an exit from an airport building to an aircraft: a departure gate
  • [in names] a mountain pass or other natural passage: the Golden Gate
  • 2the number of people who pay to enter a sports ground for an event: an average home gate of more than 12,000
  • the money taken for admission.
  • 3a device resembling a gate in structure or function, in particular:
  • a hinged or sliding barrier for controlling the flow of water: a sluice gate
  • an arrangement of slots into which the gear lever of a motor vehicle moves to engage each gear.
  • a device for holding each frame of a film in position behind the lens of a camera or projector.
  • 4an electric circuit with an output which depends on the combination of several inputs: a logic gate
  • the part of a field-effect transistor to which a signal is applied to control the resistance of the conductive channel of the device.

verb

[with object] British
  • confine (a pupil or student) to school or college: he was gated for the rest of term

Phrases

get (or be given) the gate

North American informal be dismissed from a job.

Origin:

Old English gæt, geat, plural gatu, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch gat 'gap, hole, breach'