town gaten.1
/ˌtaʊn ˈɡeɪt/, U.S. /ˌtaʊn ˈɡeɪt/ A gate in the wall surrounding a town.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > gate > [noun]
portc1330
town gatec1380
city gatec1450
castle-gate1590
portress1638
c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 4630* (MED) Boþe brigge and baly in-to þe toun-ȝeate, Now buþ þay comen alle þer-ate.
1433 Petition in Rotuli Parl. (1767–77) IV. 477/1 The kepyng of the Town Yate, called the Castell Yate.
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes i. f. 130v Ye enhabitauntes of Myndus, shutte fast your toune gates.
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost i. ii. 69 Sampson..carried the Towne-gates on his backe like a Porter.
1648 Moderate Intelligencer No. 194. 1771 Dom Carlo Roncal..was hanged and quartered, and his head set on one of the Town-gates.
1726 J. Swift Gulliver II. iii. iv. 53 We passed through one of the Town-Gates, and went about three Miles into the Country.
1799 Hull Advertiser 21 Sept. 4/1 Mr. Bray..protected the town-gate efficaciously with grape.
1859 C. Dickens Tale of Two Cities iii. i. 165 Every town gate..had its band of citizen-patriots.
1873 E. Jeboult Gen. Acct. W. Somerset (Towns) 19/1 Passing through the town gate we observe on the right the mill ford.
1906 Geogr. Jrnl. 28 371 One of them arrived one evening at the town gate of Wase.
1955 E. Hyams tr. Z. Oldenbourg Cornerstone iii. 163 Come, my lord, he is here, waiting for you at the town gates.
2013 Sunday Tel. (Nexis) 13 Jan. (Discover section) 4 Munich's oldest hotel..is next to the Isar Tor, one of the city's three remaining ancient town gates.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1c1380