American Heritage Dictionary Entry: gate HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key. Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window. guide to the dictionary THE USAGE PANEL The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions. The Panelists NEED HELP SOLVING A CROSSWORD PUZZLE? Go to our Crossword Puzzle Solver and type in the letters that you know, and the Solver will produce a list of possible solutions. -- AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android. THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG The articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more. OPEN DICTIONARY PROJECT Share your ideas for new words and new meanings of old words! Start Sharing Now! -- See word lists from the best-selling 100 Words Series! Find out more! INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES? Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com gate 1 (gāt) Share: Tweet n. 1. A structure that can be swung, drawn, or lowered to block an entrance or a passageway. 2. a. An opening in a wall or fence for entrance or exit. b. The structure surrounding such an opening, such as the monumental or fortified entrance to a palace or walled city. 3. a. A doorway or walkway in a terminal, as at an airport, through which passengers proceed when embarking or disembarking. b. A waiting area inside a terminal, abutting such a doorway or walkway. 4. A means of access: the gate to riches. 5. A mountain pass. 6. The total paid attendance or admission receipts at a public event: a good gate at the football game. 7. A device for controlling the passage of water or gas through a dam or conduit. 8. The channel through which molten metal flows into a shaped cavity of a mold. 9. Sports A passage between two upright poles through which a skier must go in a slalom race. 10. A logic gate. tr.v. gat·ed, gat·ing, gates 1. Chiefly British To confine (a student) to the grounds of a college as punishment. 2. Electronics To select part of (a wave) for transmission, reception, or processing by magnitude or time interval. 3. To furnish with a gate: "The entrance to the rear lawn was also gated" (Dean Koontz).Idioms: get the gate Slang To be dismissed or rejected. give (someone) the gate Slang 1. To discharge from a job. 2. To reject or jilt. [Middle English, from Old English geat.] The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved. gate 2 (gāt) Share: Tweet n. Archaic 1. A path or way. 2. A particular way of acting or doing; manner. [Middle English, from Old Norse gata; see ghē- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved. -gate Share: Tweet suff. A scandal involving alleged illegal acts and often a cover-up, especially by government officials: Irangate. [After WATERGATE.] The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved. Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices: Indo-European Roots Semitic Roots The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots. 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