How to Use starting gate in a Sentence

starting gate

noun
Definition of starting gatenext
  • With the scratch, the Nos. 17-20 horses will move in one spot in the starting gate.
    — Jason Frakes, The Courier-Journal, 30 Apr. 2021
  • And then the movies, late to the starting gate, in time overtook the others in renown.
    — Los Angeles Times, 11 Jan. 2022
  • The starting gate was in the backstretch chute, rather than in front of the grandstand.
    — Stephen Edelson, azcentral, 20 June 2020
  • When one of the girls lost her poles out of the starting gate, Schleper went to console her.
    — Amanda Ruggeri, Outside Online, 12 Feb. 2015
  • Then again, the mini-MRI on wheels has just left the starting gate.
    — Carolyn Barber, Scientific American, 12 Nov. 2020
  • And now Barry Allen has reached the starting gate for his last race.
    — Sydney Bucksbaum, EW.com, 1 Aug. 2022
  • The queasiness took hold on race days, just before the U.S. Alpine ski star was about to enter the start gate.
    — Josh Peter, USA TODAY, 11 Feb. 2018
  • The filly named Bold and Bossy got loose on her way to the starting gate at Ellis Park.
    — CBS News, 23 Aug. 2021
  • The paddock, where fans can glimpse horses en route to the starting gate, backs up to the parking lot.
    — Washington Post, 22 Sep. 2021
  • Then Ester Ledecka of the Czech Republic, the 26th racer to leave the start gate, dashed down the hill.
    — New York Times, 25 Feb. 2018
  • Tracks have a starting gate that releases all cars at the same time.
    — Bradley Ford, Popular Mechanics, 12 Jan. 2023
  • The incident began with most of the horses in the starting gate.
    — Tod Leonard, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Nov. 2021
  • The race will have a different feel to it with no noise when the horses enter the starting gate or hit the top of the stretch.
    — John Cherwa, Los Angeles Times, 5 June 2020
  • Horses kicked off from a starting gate placed atop the backstretch, rather than in front of the grandstands.
    — Jake Einer, The Courier-Journal, 20 June 2020
  • Racers kicked off from a starting gate placed atop the backstretch, rather than in front of the grandstands.
    — Jake Seiner, SFChronicle.com, 20 June 2020
  • The offense sputtered at the season’s starting gate and has since stalled.
    — Evan Grant, Dallas News, 7 Aug. 2020
  • But the starting gate at Belmont gives the horse some room to maneuver.
    — John Cherwaspecial Contributor, Los Angeles Times, 7 June 2022
  • Both will be in the starting gate for the Kentucky Oaks, assuming good health.
    — John Cherwa, Los Angeles Times, 22 Mar. 2021
  • The only issue Baffert has seen with Cave Rock has been in the starting gate.
    — Jason Frakes, The Courier-Journal, 3 Nov. 2022
  • The horses are nearing the starting gate for the 148th running of the Kentucky Derby.
    — Jay Ginsbach, Forbes, 5 May 2022
  • Getting closer and closer to getting in the start gate!
    — Jason Duaine Hahn, PEOPLE.com, 15 Feb. 2018
  • With the hopes of having a clean, fair start to the horse race, Churchill Downs has a new starting gate that will be used for the 146th Kentucky Derby.
    — Dominique Yates, The Courier-Journal, 2 Sep. 2020
  • This is a slow rebuild that’s just left the starting gate, and even that is the optimist’s viewpoint.
    — Tim Cowlishaw, Dallas News, 17 Aug. 2021
  • Swift's explosive talent will shine out of the starting gate in Week 1.
    — Tony Holm, USA TODAY, 5 Sep. 2022
  • Then wave after wave of no more than eight riders at a time flew off the retractable starting gate.
    — David Allan, CNN, 20 Oct. 2017
  • This year's overstuffed starting gate of 20 is one of the most talented crop of three-year-olds in many a Derby.
    — Bob "railbird" Roberts, cleveland.com, 4 May 2018
  • Points are reduced for a higher starting gate, while points are added for a lower one.
    — Charlotte Carroll, SI.com, 6 Dec. 2017
  • Deer Park then roared out of the third period starting gates, netting the opening 11 points.
    — Robert Avery, Houston Chronicle, 29 Nov. 2019
  • The new 20-horse starting gate was used for the first time Tuesday afternoon during the maiden race.
    — Dominique Yates, The Courier-Journal, 2 Sep. 2020
  • Food cooperatives have been leaders of the good food movement from the starting gate.
    — Errol Schweizer, Forbes, 1 June 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'starting gate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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