Dictionary

gateway drug en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) A typically legal or less harmful substance, such as marijuana, whose use is statistically associated with an increased likelihood of progressing to a more dangerous or illicit drug.
2. (broadly, figuratively) Any thing or area of interest that tends to lead to a deeper involvement.
   • It has been said that LINQ is a gateway drug for functional programming 2014, Dave Fancher, Book of F#: Breaking Free with Managed Functional Programming, page XX:
   • Darn you, Downton Abbey, for being the gateway drug for all things BBC. 2019, Emily Padraic, Under My Skin, page 3:

Forms

Translations (14)

ru ста́ртовый нарко́тик (substance believed to encourage the user to experiment with more harmful substances) · pt droga de entrada (substance believed to encourage the user to experiment with more harmful substances) · pl furtka (thing that tends to lead to deeper involvement) · fi porttihuume (substance believed to encourage the user to experiment with more harmful substances) · pl furtka (substance believed to encourage the user to experiment with more harmful substances) · ru шлюз (substance believed to encourage the user to experiment with more harmful substances) · ru перехо́дный нарко́тик (substance believed to encourage the user to experiment with more harmful substances) · hu kapudrog (substance believed to encourage the user to experiment with more harmful substances) · es droga iniciática (substance believed to encourage the user to experiment with more harmful substances) · cmn 入門毒品 /入门毒品 (substance believed to encourage the user to experiment with more harmful substances) · fi portti (thing that tends to lead to deeper involvement) · cmn 引入之門 /引入之门 (thing that tends to lead to deeper involvement) · de Einstiegsdroge (substance believed to encourage the user to experiment with more harmful substances) · cmn 入門途徑 /入门途径 (thing that tends to lead to deeper involvement)