Dictionary

sluice gate en · NOUN

Meanings

1. A portal which may be opened or closed to allow or prevent the passage of water through a man-made channel.
   • Golam Kibria was found floating through a sluice gate in a nearby sewer Monday morning, bringing the death toll to 74. 2009 March 2, “After the Mutiny, Questions About Bangladesh's Army”, in Time:
   • He also built two dams and a sluice gate that frees dammed water to operate a 14-foot undershot waterwheel. 1987 September 20, Carolyn Battista, “For Sale: Buildings and Land, Ideal for Old Blacksmith”, in New York Times, retrieved 09 Jan 2012:
   • "Has the miller a strong high dam to his pond, and a good stout sluice-gate at the end?" 1877, R. D. Blackmore, chapter 42, in Erema: My Father's Sin:
2. (figuratively) Something which restrains or releases a substantial volume, a flood, of activity, emotion, etc.
   • I must have opened up some sluice gate inside her and everything that had been dammed up came spilling out. 1995, Gary Eberle, Angel Strings: A Novel, →ISBN, page 22:
   • I could see her brave spirit quelling the riot of her emotions, shutting down the sluice-gate of tears. 1896, Gilbert Parker, chapter 10, in Seats Of The Mighty:
   • Mr. Betancourt is the sluice gate for communism in Venezuela. 1963 February 19, Bertram B. Johansson, “Focus on Betancourt”, in Christian Science Monitor, page 1:
   • The Village Voice put its sassiest junior movie critic (me) on the Meyer beat, opening the sluice gate to torrents of mannered enthusiasm. 2002 August 2, “Thanks for the Mammaries”, in Time:
   • [A]nd then when the fountain of her love was opened, and the sluice gate of her displeasure removed, she told him how she would pray for him till he came back safe from the wars. 1850, Anthony Trollope, chapter 7, in La Vendée:

Forms

Deriveds

sluice-gate price

Relateds

watergate · floodgate · sluiceway · water gate

Translations (20)

sv slusslucka (portal to allow passage of water) · pl wrota śluzy (portal to allow passage of water) · ru шлю́зные ворота́ (portal to allow passage of water) · grc ἔμβλημα (portal to allow passage of water) · cmn 閘口 /闸口 (portal to allow passage of water) · es compuerta (portal to allow passage of water) · it paratoia (portal to allow passage of water) · fr vanne (portal to allow passage of water) · it saracinesca (portal to allow passage of water) · cmn 斗門 /斗门 (portal to allow passage of water) · de Schleusentor (portal to allow passage of water) · it chiusa (portal to allow passage of water) · ar خَوْخَة (portal to allow passage of water) · fi sulkuluukku (portal to allow passage of water) · bg сава́к (portal to allow passage of water) · it scolmatoio (portal to allow passage of water) · ja 樋門 (portal to allow passage of water) · ca comporta (portal to allow passage of water) · cmn 閘門 /闸门 (portal to allow passage of water) · cmn 水閘 /水闸 (portal to allow passage of water)