English▸ noun
1 a hinged flap at the back of a truck that can be lowered or removed when loading or unloading the vehicle.
▪ the door at the back of a station wagon.
▪ North American a social gathering at which an informal meal is served from the back of a parked vehicle, typically in the parking lot of a sports stadium:
[as modifier] they turned the parking lot into a huge tailgate party
who would have thought it would get him like this, returning after all these years for a tailgate before a football game?
2 [as modifier] denoting a style of jazz trombone playing characterized by improvisation in the manner of the early New Orleans musicians.
▸ verb informal
1 [with object] drive too closely behind (another vehicle):
he started tailgating the car in front
[no object] drivers who will tailgate at 90 mph.
▪ gain unauthorized entry to a secured area by closely following someone with authority to enter:
a Toyota pickup tailgated the delivery vehicle into the prison
three boys tailgated a group of tourists into the theater.