starting gate

English

Noun

starting gate (plural starting gates)

  1. (equestrianism, dog racing) A machine used to ensure a fair start in horse or dog racing by opening doors to allow all the racing animals out at the same time.
    • 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 164:
      Mobile starting-gates and horse-boxes stand parked along the kerbs, and behind every large house, it seems, is a red brick stableyard, gleaming with fresh black-and-white paint and polished steel.
  2. (figurative) The beginning.

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