starting gate

noun

A machine used to ensure a fair start in horse or dog racing by opening doors to allow all the racing animals out at the same time.

Similar
starting stall
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Meanings

nounstarting gate (plural starting gates)

plural starting gates

  1. dog racingequestrianismA machine used to ensure a fair start in horse or dog racing by opening doors to allow all the racing animals out at the same time.

    Mobile starting-gates and horse-boxes stand parked along the kerbs, and behind every large house, it seems, is a red brick stableyard, gleaming with fresh black-and-white paint and polished steel.

    1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 164
  2. figurativelyThe beginning.

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna movable barrier on the starting line of a race course

Similar
starting stall
Broader
barrier

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Translations

French starting-gate
  • starting-gate(equestrianism)
Cite this entry
APA

starting gate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/starting%20gate

MLA

“starting gate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/starting%20gate. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “starting gate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/starting%20gate.

Source: starting gate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.