Definition of "tailgate" []

• A hinged board or closure at the rear of a vehicle, such as a pick-up truck, that can be lowered during loading and unloading. Also called tailboard. (noun)
• One of the pair of gates downstream in a canal lock. (noun)
• To drive so closely behind (another vehicle) that one cannot stop or swerve with ease in an emergency. (verb-transitive)
• Slang To follow closely behind (another person), as in gaining access to an area requiring the use of an electronic identification card. (verb-transitive)
• To follow another vehicle too closely. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "My tailgate is always up with a dead animal in the back."
• "With months to go in tailgate season, if you are decked out from head-to-toe in team regalia but feel there’s still something missing, maybe what you need is a gargantuan rig shaped exactly like a football."
• ""It's an honor to be invited into someone's home to eat, and the tailgate is the home brought to the parking lot," he says."
• "In our Road Test of the crossover SUV, we noted that “many testers complained about the tailgate, which is awkward to grasp and heavy to lift and lower.”"
• "A tailgate is a precursor to the big game, so organize one."