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tailgate

Pronunciation: /ˈteɪlˌɡeɪt/

The English word “tailgate” has 8 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A hinged board or hatch at the rear of a vehicle that can be lowered for loading and unloading.
  2. The hinged rear door of a hatchback.
  3. The downstream gate in the lock on a canal or river, or in an irrigation system.
  4. A tunnel for drawing spent air away from the working face of a mine.

verb

  1. To drive dangerously close behind another vehicle.
  2. 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.
  3. To privately purchase or sell a security immediately after trading in the same security for a client.
  4. To participate in a tailgate party.

Etymology

From tail + gate. Compare liftgate.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.