gatekeep
/ˈɡeɪt.kiːp/
gatekeep verb: to control or limit access to something.
Verb
gatekeep (third-person singular simple present gatekeeps, present participle gatekeeping, simple past and past participle gatekept)
- To control or limit access to something.
- To limit (sometimes manipulatively, rather than directly) how much of a role another party, often a spouse, has in some task.
- To limit another party's participation in a collective identity or an activity, usually due to undue pettiness, resentment, or overprotectiveness.
Noun
gatekeep (plural gatekeeps)
- A gatekeeper.
- Similar remarks had passed the cherry-stained lips a hundred times, and this one was brought on just after the gatekeep at the north postern of Bull Joy had slyly given the wink behind "her husband's" broad back.1949, Laverne Gay, Wine of Ssatan a Novel of the First Crusade, page 129
- A gentleman stopped his horse at a toll-gate and not seeing the gatekeep went into the house.1969, Donald M. Hines, Dust Devils in the Great Desert
gatekeep meaning in Indonesian
gatekeep in Indonesian
- verb
- jaga pintu, jaga tolak
Examples of gatekeep in a sentence
- Though there was a moment of anxiety, a generous bribe persuaded the gatekeep to overlook their expired passports and they rode into Calais.1987, Maggie Osborne, Chase the Heart, page 278:
- “At least those doxies don't fancy themselves the gatekeeps of God, like the priest.” Margit said.2017, Jeannie Troll, A Clever Girl:
Forms of gatekeep
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | gatekeeps |
| present participle | gatekeeping |
| past participle | gatekept |
| past | gatekept |
| alternative form | gate-keep |
| Noun | |
| plural | gatekeeps |
Origin of gatekeep
From gate + keep, as back-formation from gatekeeper.
Words formed from gatekeep
Questions about gatekeep
- What does gatekeep mean?
- Gatekeep means to control or limit access to something.
- What is gatekeep in Indonesian?
- Gatekeep in Indonesian is jaga pintu, jaga tolak. See Gatekeep meaning in Indonesian.
- How do you use gatekeep in a sentence?
- Though there was a moment of anxiety, a generous bribe persuaded the gatekeep to overlook their expired passports and they rode into Calais.
- What part of speech is gatekeep?
- Gatekeep can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce gatekeep?
- Gatekeep is pronounced /ˈɡeɪt.kiːp/.
- What is the past tense of gatekeep?
- The past tense of gatekeep is gatekept.
Words near gatekeep in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: gatekeep (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: En-au-gatekeep.ogg.
Cite this entry: “gatekeep.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gatekeep. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.