English edit

Etymology edit

stair +‎ gate

Noun edit

stairgate (plural stairgates)

  1. A gate fitted across a domestic staircase to prevent young children from climbing the stairs, or falling down them.
    • 1979, Brian Jackson, Sonia Jackson, Childminder: A Study in Action Research:
      Perhaps she has to buy a new stairgate, fireguard, or fit in a lamp. This may be a big dip in her purse, but in this financial comparison it is trivial.
    • 1991, “The Children Act: Guidance and Regulations”, in Health, Department:
      There should be a stairgate and the door to the garden should be secured so that children cannot get out unsupervised []
    • 2004, Richard Hallows, Full Time Father, page 46:
      At this point you realise that you're also on edge because the kids don't know this house, and the eldest might be sleepwalking and there are no stairgates []

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