sluice gate

• sluice-gate, sluicegate

sluice gate (plural sluice gates)

1. A portal which may be opened or closed to allow or prevent the passage of water through a man-made channel.
   • 1877, R. D. Blackmore, Erema: My Father's Sin, ch. 42:

     "Has the miller a strong high dam to his pond, and a good stout sluice-gate at the end?"

   • 1987 Sept. 20, Carolyn Battista, "For Sale: Buildings and Land, Ideal for Old Blacksmith," New York Times (retrieved 9 Jan 2012):

     He also built two dams and a sluice gate that frees dammed water to operate a 14-foot undershot waterwheel.

   • 2009 March 2, "After the Mutiny, Questions About Bangladesh's Army," Time:

     Golam Kibria was found floating through a sluice gate in a nearby sewer Monday morning, bringing the death toll to 74.

2. (figuratively) Something which restrains or releases a substantial volume—a flood—of activity, emotion, etc.
   • 1850, Anthony Trollope, La Vendée, ch. 7:

     [A]nd then when the fountain of her love was opened, and the sluice gate of her displeasure removed, she told him how she would pray for him till he came back safe from the wars.

   • 1896, Gilbert Parker, Seats Of The Mighty, ch. 10:

     I could see her brave spirit quelling the riot of her emotions, shutting down the sluice-gate of tears.

   • 1963 Feb. 19, Bertram B. Johansson, "Focus on Betancourt," Christian Science Monitor, p. 1:

     Mr. Betancourt is the sluice gate for communism in Venezuela.

   • 1995, Gary Eberle, Angel Strings: A Novel, →ISBN, p. 22 (Google preview):

     I must have opened up some sluice gate inside her and everything that had been dammed up came spilling out.

   • 2002 Aug. 2, "Thanks for the Mammaries," Time:

     The Village Voice put its sassiest junior movie critic (me) on the Meyer beat, opening the sluice gate to torrents of mannered enthusiasm.

• sluiceway

• floodgate

• sluice gate at OneLook Dictionary Search