starting gate

English

Noun

starting gate (plural starting gates)

1. (equestrianism, dog racing) A machine used to ensure a fair start to in horse dog racing by opening doors to allow all the racing animals out at the same time.
   • 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 164:

     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.

2. (figurative) The beginning

Derived terms

• out of the starting gate

Translations

(equestrianism)

• French: starting-gate (fr) m