gatekeep

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   To control or limit access to something.

2. 2

   To limit (sometimes manipulatively, rather than directly) how much of a role another…

   To limit (sometimes manipulatively, rather than directly) how much of a role another party, often a spouse, has in some task.

3. 3

   To limit another party's participation in a collective identity or an activity, usually…

   To limit another party's participation in a collective identity or an activity, usually due to undue pettiness, resentment, or overprotectiveness.

4. ›+ 1 more definitionshow fewer

   1. 4

      A gatekeeper.

      • Similar remarks had passed the cherry-stained lips a hundred times, and this one was brought on just after the gatekeep at the north postern of Bull Joy had slyly given the wink behind "her husband's" broad back.
      • A gentleman stopped his horse at a toll-gate and not seeing the gatekeep went into the house.
      • Though there was a moment of anxiety, a generous bribe persuaded the gatekeep to overlook their expired passports and they rode into Calais.

The neighborhood

• neighborno true Scotsman fallacy