Definition of "tailgate" in English

noun

1. (automotive) 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.

2. (especially British) The hinged rear door of a hatchback.

   • Open up the tailgate, please, and retrieve her suitcases.

3. 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.

4. (US) Ellipsis of tailgate party.

   • Are you coming to the tailgate? We'll be grilling brisket.

5. (mining) A tunnel for drawing spent air away from the working face of a mine.

verb

1. (automotive, intransitive, transitive) To drive dangerously close behind another vehicle.

   • That idiot has been tailgating me for the last five minutes.

2. 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.

3. (finance, of a broker) To privately purchase or sell a security immediately after trading in the same security for a client.

4. (US, intransitive) To have a tailgate party.