Pronunciations (2)
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/ˈteɪlˌɡeɪt/
Pronunciation notes
- UK
- US
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ˈteɪlˌɡeɪt
Noun
A hinged board or hatch at the rear of a vehicle that can be lowered for loading and unloading.
- Synonyms
- Examples
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Drop the tailgate, please, and I'll load these pallets.
More examples (1)
When they first attached tailgates to cars, we were hooked. By the 1970s, wagons with names like Vista Cruiser and Town & Country sported tailgates as big as dining tables.
The hinged rear door of a hatchback.
Usage- UK usage
- especially
- Synonyms
- Examples
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Open up the tailgate, please, and retrieve her suitcases.
The downstream gate in the lock on a canal or river, or in an irrigation system.
- Antonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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The locktender closed the tailgate and the chamber started to fill.
A tunnel for drawing spent air away from the working face of a mine.
Verb
To drive dangerously close behind another vehicle.
Usage- Intransitive
- Transitive
- Examples
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That idiot has been tailgating me for the last five minutes.
She also tailgated them at high speed in her convertible yellow Mercedes.
More examples (1)
Last week the UK government announced a crackdown on unsafe driving. From now on, those of us spotted tailgating or lane hogging will face on-the-spot fines of £100 and three penalty points.
To follow another person through access control on their access, rather than on one’s own credentials, especially when entering a door controlled by a card reader.
- Examples
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An email circulated to ABC employees says Gallagher is believed to have tailgated staff walking through the building’s high-security doors.
To privately purchase or sell a security immediately after trading in the same security for a client.
Usage- of a broker
To participate in a tailgate party.
Usage- US usage
- Intransitive
- Examples
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More examples (2)
“Hey, what are you guys doing?” “Dude, we're gonna tailgate the tryouts.” “Oh, shit. That's a good idea. Oh, you gonna bust out Green Man, bro?” “No. No Green Man.” “What's Green Man?” “Well, in high school, Charlie was like our school mascot.” “A mascot nobody wanted. He'd get wasted and dress in this green spandex bodysuit.” “Spandex?” “It was really sad.” “That's it.” “You gotta bring the Green Man suit.” “Yeah, no. Done with it.” “The spandex.” “Green Man was good. It got me through some hard times. But I'm done with it. Tell you what. You can wear it if you want, but I'm just gonna be relaxing, okay? This is gonna be about chilling out for me.” “No. This is gonna be exactly like Woodstock.”
The point, Goldstein discovered through a lot of long days hanging out in parking lots, is that tailgating — the gustatory madness, the multigenerational camaraderie, the decked-out vans — is as essential a part of football as the game itself.
Noun
a gate at the rear of a vehicle; can be lowered for loading
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
Verb
follow at a dangerously close distance
- Broader terms
- Examples
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it is dangerous to tailgate another vehicle