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horatio, 1728–1806, american revolutionary general, born in england.
william (“bill”) born 1956, u.s. entrepreneur.
a movable barrier, usually on hinges, closing an opening in a fence, wall, or other enclosure.
an opening permitting p-ssage through an enclosure.
a tower, architectural setting, etc., for defending or adorning such an opening or for providing a monumental entrance to a street, park, etc.:
the gates of the walled city; the palace gate.
any means of access or entrance:
the gate to stardom is talent.
a mountain p-ss.
any movable barrier, as at a tollbooth or a road or railroad crossing.
a gateway or p-ssageway in a p-ssenger terminal or pier that leads to a place for boarding a train, plane, or ship.
a sliding barrier for regulating the p-ssage of water, steam, or the like, as in a dam or pipe; valve.
skiing.

an obstacle in a slalom race, consisting of two upright poles anch-r-d in the snow a certain distance apart.
the opening between these poles, through which a compet-tor in a slalom race must ski.

the total number of persons who pay for admission to an athletic contest, a performance, an exhibition, etc.
the total receipts from such admissions.
cell biology. a temporary channel in a cell membrane through which substances diffuse into or out of a cell.
movies. film gate.
a sash or frame for a saw or gang of saws.
metallurgy.

also called ingate. a channel or opening in a mold through which molten metal is poured into the mold cavity.
the waste metal left in such a channel after hardening.

electronics.

a signal that makes an electronic circuit operative or inoperative either for a certain time interval or until another signal is received.
also called logic gate. a circuit with one output that is activated only by certain combinations of two or more inputs.

(at british universities) to punish by confining to the college grounds.
electronics.

to control the operation of (an electronic device) by means of a gate.
to select the parts of (a wave signal) that are within a certain range of amplitude or within certain time intervals.

metallurgy. to make or use a gate.
get the gate, slang. to be dismissed, sent away, or rejected.
give (someone) the gate, slang.

to reject (a person), as one’s fiancé, lover, or friend.
to dismiss from one’s employ:
they gave him the gate because he was caught stealing.

archaic. a path; way.
north england and scot. habitual manner or way of acting.
contemporary examples

in 2012 for example, gates warned publicly in a speech that it would be disastrous if israel were to unilaterally strike iran .
in gates book, details of israel’s hard bargaining over saudi arms eli lake january 9, 2014

like gates, zuckerberg has infinite wealth, and he seems monomaniacal in his desire to see facebook beat back any and all rivals.
going public, facebook will make mark zuckerberg at least $21 billion gary rivlin february 2, 2012

the gates version of “philanthrocapitalism” has been widely scrutinized and critiqued (pdf) by foundation-watchers.
a plea to melinda gates: stop stigmatizing abortion sally kohn june 4, 2014

moulitsas, for his part, has declared himself skeptical but not angry at the gates reappointment.
hunting the obama haters john avlon december 4, 2008

mr. gates has said repeatedly that he will slash his budget by $100 billion.
surprise! a pentagon spending hike leslie h. gelb november 16, 2010

historical examples

she clapped her hands, and her first words were, “shut the gates.”
lord jim joseph conrad

there are twelve outer gates, and also gates in the part-tion wall.
four young explorers oliver optic

the people of the city shut their gates against him, and derided him.
darius the great jacob abbott

portsmouth closed its gates against the delegates of the soldiers.
history of the english people, volume vi (of 8) john richard green

the gates were speedily opened; and as the inhabitants rushed out, the sea-king and his followers entered to pillage the town.
history of the anglo-saxons thomas miller

noun
bill, full name william henry gates. born 1955, us computer-software executive and philanthropist; founder (1976) of microsoft corporation
henry louis. born 1950, us scholar and critic, who pioneered african-american studies in such works as figures in black (1987)
horatio. ?1728–1806, american revolutionary general: defeated the british at saratoga (1777)
noun
a movable barrier, usually hinged, for closing an opening in a wall, fence, etc
an opening to allow p-ssage into or out of an enclosed place
any means of entrance or access
a mountain p-ss or gap, esp one providing entry into another country or region

the number of people admitted to a sporting event or entertainment
the total entrance money received from them

(in a large airport) any of the numbered exits leading to the airfield or aircraft: p-ssengers for paris should proceed to gate 14
(horse racing) short for starting gate
(electronics)

a logic circuit having one or more input terminals and one output terminal, the output being switched between two voltage levels determined by the combination of input signals
a circuit used in radar that allows only a fraction of the input signal to p-ss

the electrode region or regions in a field-effect transistor that is biased to control the conductivity of the channel between the source and drain
a component in a motion-picture camera or projector that holds each frame flat and momentarily stationary behind the lens
a slotted metal frame that controls the positions of the gear lever in a motor vehicle
(rowing) a hinged clasp to prevent the oar from jumping out of a rowlock
a frame surrounding the blade or blades of a saw
verb (transitive)
to provide with a gate or gates
(brit) to restrict (a student) to the school or college grounds as a punishment
to select (part of a waveform) in terms of amplitude or time
noun (dialect)
the channels by which molten metal is poured into a mould
the metal that solidifies in such channels
noun (scot & northern english, dialect)
a way, road, street, or path
a way or method of doing something
n.

“opening, entrance,” old english geat (plural geatu) “gate, door, opening, p-ssage, hinged framework barrier,” from proto-germanic -gatan (cf. old norse gat “opening, p-ssage,” old saxon gat “eye of a needle, hole,” old frisian gat “hole, opening,” dutch gat “gap, hole, breach,” german g-sse “street”), of unknown origin. meaning “money collected from selling tickets” dates from 1896 (short for gate money, 1820). gate-crasher is from 1927. finnish katu, lettish gatua “street” are germanic loan-words.
v.

“provide with a gate,” 1906, from gate (n.). originally of moulds. related: gated (1620s). gated community recorded by 1989 (earliest reference to emerald bay, laguna beach, calif.

noun

the money collected from selling tickets to a sporting or other entertainment event: the winner to take seventy-five and the loser twenty-five percent of the gate (1886+)
a performing engagement; gig (1940s+ jazz musicians)
a musician, a musical devotee, or any man; cat (1920s+ jazz musicians)

verb

give someone the gate (1940s+)

related terms

crash, get one’s tail in a gate

[musicians’ senses fr the simile swing like a gate, ”play or respond to swing music well and readily,” with some influence of ‘gator and alligator; or perhaps fr gatemouth, a nickname for louis armstrong; first musical sense said to have been coined by louis armstrong]

bill gates

(1.) of cities, as of jerusalem (jer. 37:13; neh. 1:3; 2:3; 3:3), of sodom (gen. 19:1), of gaza (judg. 16:3). (2.) of royal palaces (neh. 2:8). (3.) of the temple of solomon (1 kings 6:34, 35; 2 kings 18:16); of the holy place (1 kings 6:31, 32; ezek. 41:23, 24); of the outer courts of the temple, the beautiful gate (acts 3:2). (4.) tombs (matt. 27:60). (5.) prisons (acts 12:10; 16:27). (6.) caverns (1 kings 19:13). (7.) camps (ex. 32:26, 27; heb. 13:12). the materials of which gates were made were, (1.) iron and br-ss (ps. 107:16; isa. 45:2; acts 12:10). (2.) stones and pearls (isa. 54:12; rev. 21:21). (3.) wood (judg. 16:3) probably. at the gates of cities courts of justice were frequently held, and hence “judges of the gate” are spoken of (deut. 16:18; 17:8; 21:19; 25:6, 7, etc.). at the gates prophets also frequently delivered their messages (prov. 1:21; 8:3; isa. 29:21; jer. 17:19, 20; 26:10). criminals were punished without the gates (1 kings 21:13; acts 7:59). by the “gates of righteousness” we are probably to understand those of the temple (ps. 118:19). “the gates of h-ll” (r.v., “gates of hades”) matt. 16:18, are generally interpreted as meaning the power of satan, but probably they may mean the power of death, denoting that the church of christ shall never die.

see:

crash the gate
give someone the air (gate)