floodgate
/ˈflʌdˌɡeɪt/
floodgate noun: an adjustable gate or valve used to control the flow of water through a sluice.
Noun
floodgate (plural floodgates)
- An adjustable gate or valve used to control the flow of water through a sluice.
- At the start of the Second World War floodgates would be installed at the ends of the under-Thames sections of the Bakerloo and Northern lines to save them from inundation should bombs damage the riverbed.2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 31
- Anything that controls or limits an outpouring of people, emotion, etc.
- “The floodgates for advertising on cable are down,” says Michael Dann, a leading consultant on cable television.1981 July 26, Sandra Salmans, “Will cable TV be invaded by commercials?”, in New York Times
- A stream that passes through a floodgate; a torrent.
- Out of her gored wound the cruell ſteel / He lightly ſnatcht, and did the floodgate ſtop / VVith his faire garment: then gan ſoftly feel her feeble pulſe, to proue if any drop / Of liuing blood yet in her veynes did hop1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 43, page 199
- The accuſation conſiſting of thoſe three articles, was moſt true: your doctrine was ſcādalous, it offred much offence, being generally diſtaſted; and was erroneous, being detected to be the floodgate of Traitors ſtaiers, looſing in ſome ſuppoſititious doctrines, and many blaſphemous arrogating much...1610, Daniell Price, The Defence of Truth Against a booke falsely called The Triumph of Truth sent over from Arras A.D. 1609 by Humfrey Leech late Minister. […] , Oxford, Lib. 2 Cap. 3, page 237
Proper noun capitalized: Floodgate
Floodgate
- A series of allegations of corruption, mismanagement, and irregularities in flood control projects in the Philippines during and before the administration of President Bongbong Marcos.
floodgate meaning in Tamil, Kannada, Gujarati and Arabic
floodgate in Kannada
- ನೆರೆತೂಬು, ಪ್ರವಾಹ ದ್ವಾರ, ಕವಾಟ
floodgate in Gujarati
- floodgate
- પૂરદ્વાર pūradvār
floodgate in Arabic
- gate or valve
- بوابة ايقاف الفيضان
Forms of floodgate
| plural | floodgates |
|---|
Origin of floodgate
From Middle English flodegate, flodgate, flodeyate, floodȝate, flodȝete, equivalent to flood + gate.
From floodgate.
Questions about floodgate
- What does floodgate mean?
- Floodgate means an adjustable gate or valve used to control the flow of water through a sluice.
- What is floodgate in Tamil?
- Floodgate in Tamil is மடை. See Floodgate meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is floodgate?
- Floodgate can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce floodgate?
- Floodgate is pronounced /ˈflʌdˌɡeɪt/.
- What is the plural of floodgate?
- The plural of floodgate is floodgates.
Words near floodgate in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: floodgate (page history and authors); Floodgate (page history and authors); floodgate (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); floodgate (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); પૂરદ્વાર (Gujarati) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-floodgate.wav.
Cite this entry: “floodgate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/floodgate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.