floodgates

nounC2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,477 of 15,258neutral

Floodgates are gates that hold back water, and the phrase for releasing a rush. Open the floodgates.

The real ones are on rivers and reservoirs and are opened slowly and on purpose. Opening the floodgates now nearly always means a rush of complaints or claims.

Definitions of floodgates

1nounfloodgatesGates that hold back water, and the phrase for releasing a rush.C2
“The ruling opened the floodgates to ten thousand claims.”

floodgates is a gate.

Where it comes from

Middle English
flodegate
English
floodgate
English, today
floodgates

floodgate comes from Middle English flodegate, flodgate, flodeyate, floodȝate, flodȝete, equivalent to flood + gate.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

floodgates in the wild

Used as a berth for commercial shipping and as a dry dock for vessel repairs, the mouth of the basin was sealable with floodgates.
George's Basin
As of 2023, the floodgates are raised for tides forecast to be more than 1.30 metres (4 ft 3 in).
MOSE
Within two years after the inaugural raising of the floodgates, MOSE was activated 49 times.
MOSE
In 2011, a failure to use the floodgates properly caused a major flood, leading to a lawsuit and a $30 million renovation.
Washington Harbour
In Celebration proved to be her big break, and opened the floodgates for further acting work.
Constance Chapman

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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