tailgate /ˈteɪlˌɡeɪt/noun 5verb 4forms 3 noun5 •A hinged board or hatch at the rear of a vehicle that can be lowered for loading and unloading.Drop the tailgate, please, and I'll load these pallets. •(UK) The hinged rear door of a hatchback.Open up the tailgate, please, and retrieve her suitcases. •(US) Ellipsis of tailgate party.Are you coming to the tailgate? We'll be grilling brisket. •The downstream gate in the lock on a canal or river, or in an irrigation system.The locktender closed the tailgate and the chamber started to fill. •A tunnel for drawing spent air away from the working face of a mine. verb4 •To drive dangerously close behind another vehicle.That idiot has been tailgating me for the last five minutes. •(US) To participate in a tailgate party. •To follow another person through access control on their access, rather than on one’s own credentials, especially when entering a door controlled by a card reader.An email circulated to ABC employees says Gallagher is believed to have tailgated staff walking through the building’s high-security doors. — 2018 •To privately purchase or sell a security immediately after trading in the same security for a client. formstailgated · tailgating · tailgates
