Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A series of scandals occurring during the Nixon administration in which members of the executive branch organized illegal political espionage against their perceived opponents and were charged with violation of the public trust, bribery, contempt of Congress, and attempted obstruction of justice.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A gateway through which water passes, or a gate by which it may be ex cluded or confined; a flood-gate.
- n. A gate by which access is gained to a river, fountain, well, or other body or supply of water.
- n. A water-plug or valve.
Wiktionary
- n. An American political scandal (beginning with a burglary in the Watergate Hotel in Washington, DC in 1972) that eventually led to the resignation of US President Richard Nixon.
GNU Webster's 1913
- A gate, or valve, by which a flow of water is permitted, prevented, or regulated.
WordNet 3.0
- n. regulator consisting of a valve or gate that controls the rate of water flow through a sluice
- n. a political scandal involving abuse of power and bribery and obstruction of justice; led to the resignation of Richard Nixon in 1974
Etymologies
- From the name of the Watergate Hotel; the complex itself was named after the "Water Gate" area where symphony orchestra concerts were staged on the Potomac River between 1935 and 1965. (Wiktionary)
- After Watergate, a building complex in Washington, D.C., the site of a burglary (1972) that gave rise to the scandals. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Don, even the term Watergate was brought up today in the hearings, believe it or not.”
“Thanks in part to the investigative efforts of reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, the term Watergate came to signify a scandal involving the misuse of power; and a decade later journalists were still using phrases such as industrial Watergate, French Watergate, and Irish Watergate to label corruption in high places.”
“I believe that the constant use of that background by my colleagues and myself, long after anything was happening in that building, was what gave the scandal the name Watergate.”
“These are what often come to mind when people hear the word Watergate.”
“Damn you DNC for having offices in Watergate, now every “scandal” is ended with a gate on it.”
Think Progress » Palin blames ‘Gore-gate’ for ‘this snake oil science stuff.’
““Damn you DNC for having offices in Watergate, now every “scandal” is ended with a gate on it.””
Think Progress » Palin blames ‘Gore-gate’ for ‘this snake oil science stuff.’
“Nixon went down in Watergate, of course, and I have to say, reading about the closing years of Jack Anderson's journalistic career is kind of sad.”
“So Nixon's paranoia really goes back to the very beginning, and the paranoia that would ultimately bring his destruction in Watergate had some basis in fact.”
“After all, this is the party of Richard Nixon, who denied his part in Watergate, Ronald Reagan, who denied his part in Iran-Contra, and Bush/Cheney, who denied everything from lying to illegal surveillance to torture.”
“The telecast – called “Justice Sunday” - is sponsored by fundamentalist right-wing Christian groups and will also include “Dr. James C. Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family; Chuck Colson, the born-again Watergate figure and founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries; and Dr. Al Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary,” according to The New York Times.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘Watergate’.
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water phrases/words
how water is used
water-dress, water-door, water-eft, water-eel, water-doe, water-dark, water-crow, water-crake, water-day, water-dam, water-cut, water-cell and 906 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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WF - Gates (!)
Scandals ending in "-gate" (probably the most productive nonsense suffix of all times) since the Watergate affair.
Monicagate, Zippergate, Nannygate, Climategate, Billygate, Briefingate, Contragate, Deavergate, Debategate, Doublebillingsgate, Frankiegate, Franklingate and 140 more...
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[scandal]-gate
Any scandal or such that is labeled with the "Watergate" meme. Please contribute.
Watergate, Climate-gate, No Mole-gate, lawyergate, Travelgate, Pardongate, Debategate, Plamegate, Wordnikgate, Haggardgate, Tigergate, Utegate and 12 more...
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Words you were amazed to hear in a song
Amazed… or awestruck.
You might want to leave a comment with title and artist somewhere. Thanks.fuligin, lictor, slither, heinous, stigma, penance, conciliation, Urth, lino, acquiesce, halo halo, bo peep and 62 more...
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-gate
denoting an actual or alleged scandal (suggestive of “Watergate”)
Watergate, Irangate, Travelgate, Filegate, Contragate, climategate
Tweets
Looking for tweets for Watergate.
ruzuzu "I can't stand it. I know you planned it.
I'mma set it straight, this Watergate.
I can't stand rocking when I'm in here--
'Cause your crystal ball ain't so crystal clear."
--Beastie Boys, "Sabotage" Mar 18, 2011