ENGLISH
REFERENCE

gate

n. countable
A2 Elementary Oxford US //ˈɡeɪt// UK //ɡˈeɪt// gate Archaic Dialect General-service Slang

n. a door in a fence or an outside wall. You use it to enter or leave a garden, a field, or a park.

n. a hinged barrier used to close an opening in a wall, fence, or hedge. Often functions as a point of entry or exit for a confined outdoor space.


SIMPLE

Please remember to close the garden gate so the dog stays inside.

CONTEXTUAL

The farmer opened the heavy iron gate to let the sheep move into the next field for grazing.

COMPLEX

Security personnel remained stationed at the main gate throughout the night to monitor every vehicle entering the industrial complex.

Etymology 1

From Middle English gate, gat, ȝate, ȝeat, from Old English gat (“gate”, variant of ġeat), 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.

Usage

Commonly paired with verbs like 'open', 'close', 'bolt', or 'latch'.

Idioms1 entry

© 2026 English Reference