tailgate

¹

[ teyl-geyt ]

noun

1. the board or gate at the back of a wagon, truck, station wagon, etc., which can be removed or let down for convenience in loading or unloading.

verb (used without object)

, tail·gat·ed, tail·gat·ing.

1. to follow or drive hazardously close to the rear of another vehicle.

verb (used with object)

, tail·gat·ed, tail·gat·ing.

1. to follow or drive hazardously close to the rear of (another vehicle).

adjective

1. pertaining to or set up on a tailgate:

   a tailgate picnic before the football game.

tailgate

²

[ teyl-geyt ]

noun

, Jazz.

1. a style of playing the trombone, especially in Dixieland jazz, distinguished especially by the use of melodic counterpoint and long glissandi.

tailgate

/ ˈteɪlˌɡeɪt /

noun

1. See tailboard
   another name for tailboard
2. a door at the rear of a hatchback vehicle

verb

1. to drive very close behind (a vehicle)

Derived Forms

• ˈtailˌgater, noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of tailgate¹

An Americanism dating back to 1850–55; tail ¹ + gate ¹

Origin of tailgate²

First recorded in 1945–50; so called from the usual seat of trombonists in trucks carrying musicians during a parade

Example Sentences

There’s even a clever slide-out tailgate you can use as a table.

From Washington Blade

He would arrive at Hammer’s Lot about 24 hours before kickoff to tailgate with longtime and yet-to-be-made friends.

From Washington Post

Within the confined universe of the NFL, few places felt the impact more vividly than the tailgate lots in Orchard Park.

From Washington Post

The administration prohibited tailgating at football games and limited most university events to a maximum of 20 people.

From Popular-Science

Dean McQuiddy, a 1983 Florida graduate who has missed this game only once since he began college, will tailgate at Adams Street Station, then watch from a stadium suite.

From Washington Post

Except for the unhappy expressions on their faces, they looked like they had settled in for a tailgate party.

From The Daily Beast

A number of adults at the Tailgate Party are wearing orange T-shirts printed with the words “See You at the Pole Event Staff.”

From The Daily Beast

The truck was decades old, and it lacked a tailgate so the people in back were crammed together to avoid falling out.

From The Daily Beast

Our cars will chide us if we tailgate and watch us as we drive and jolt us awake if are distracted or drifting off to sleep.

From The Daily Beast

There was a tailgate lowered, forming a ramp; above it, the huge double doors opened on a cavern of blackness.

From Project Gutenberg

On the tailgate was spread, three times a day, the jolly good meals that pioneer mothers knew how to cook.

From Project Gutenberg

The hounds were snapping furiously as they tried to leap over the tailgate.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

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• push
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• speed
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• turn