Definition

1. Noun:

   • A movable barrier in a fence or wall: A structure used to close an opening, typically hinged or sliding, allowing entry or exit.
   • A point of entry or exit, especially at an airport: A designated area where passengers board or disembark from an aircraft.
   • The total admission receipts at a public event: The total money collected from ticket sales for an event like a sports match.
   • A logic gate in computing: A fundamental building block of a digital circuit that performs a logical operation on one or more binary inputs to produce a single binary output.

2. Verb:

   • To restrict movement as punishment: To confine someone, typically a student, to a campus or dormitory.
   • To control with a valve or similar device: To regulate the flow of something using a mechanism that functions like a gate.
   • To supply or fit with a gate: To install a gate in a fence or wall.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • Please close the garden gate to keep the dog inside.
  • Our flight is boarding at Gate B12.
  • Today's football match had a gate of over fifty thousand dollars.
  • A NAND gate is a common type of logic gate.

• Verb:

  • The headmaster gated the students for breaking the rules.
  • The engineer gated the flow of water to the turbine.
  • They decided to gate the new community for added security.

Advanced Usage

• "To get the gate" (idiom, informal): To be dismissed or fired from a job.
  • After the mistake, he got the gate from the company.
• "To give (someone) the gate" (idiom, informal): To dismiss or reject someone.
  • She gave him the gate after their first date.
• "To open the gate for/to": To create an opportunity or make something possible.
  • The new policy opens the gate for more investment.

Variants and Related Words

• Gateway (n): An opening that can be closed by a gate; a means of entrance or access.
  • The arch served as the main gateway to the city.
• Gatehouse (n): A house standing by or over a gateway, especially at the entrance to an estate.
• Gatekeeper (n): A person who controls access to something.
• Gated (adj): (Of a community or area) having a gate or gates to control access.
  • They live in a gated community.

Synonyms

• Barrier: A fence or other obstacle that prevents movement or access.
• Entrance: An opening, such as a door or gate, that allows access to a place.
• Turnstile: A mechanical gate consisting of revolving arms that allow people to pass one at a time.

Related Phrasal Verbs

(Note: "Gate" is not commonly used to form phrasal verbs. Its verbal uses are typically transitive as shown in the definitions.)

Related Idioms

• "Gate-crash": To attend a party or event without an invitation.
  • They tried to gate-crash the wedding reception.
• "Golden Gate": (Proper noun) A famous bridge in San Francisco, but used idiomatically to refer to a highly desirable or symbolic entrance.
• "Pearly gates": (Informal) The entrance to heaven.
  • He joked that he wasn't ready to see the pearly gates yet.

Noun

1. passageway (as in an air terminal) where passengers can embark or disembark
2. total admission receipts at a sports event
3. a computer circuit with several inputs but only one output that can be activated by particular combinations of inputs
4. a movable barrier in a fence or wall

Verb

1. restrict (school boys') movement to the dormitory or campus as a means of punishment
2. control with a valve or other device that functions like a gate
3. supply with a gate
   • The house was gated