floodgate

floodgate

See also: flood-gate and flood gate

English

Etymology

From Middle English flodegate, flodgate, flodeyate, floodȝate, flodȝete, equivalent to flood +‎ gate.

Noun

floodgate (plural floodgates)

1. An adjustable gate or valve used to control the flow of water through a sluice.
2. (by extension) Anything that controls or limits an outpouring of people, emotion etc.

Translations

gate or valve

Bulgarian: шлюз (bg) m (šljuz), шибър (bg) m (šibǎr) Esperanto: kluzo Finnish: tulvaluukku French: vanne (fr) f

German: Schieber (de) m, Schleusentor n, Schleuse (de) f Hungarian: zsilip (hu) Irish: bualchomhla f, comhla loic f, comhla uisce f, haiste m, loc-chomhla f Italian: paratoia (it) f, chiusa (it) f, scolmatore (it) m, canale di scarico m

anything that controls or limits an outpouring

Finnish: portti (fi) German: Tür und Tor (figuratively)

Italian: chiusa (it) f

See also

• sluice gate