English Explanatory Dictionary

Gate Night

English dictionary entry

Meanings

name
  1. A particular night, commonly the night of the 30th to the 31st of October, during which young people play pranks and do mischief in their neighborhoods.

Word forms

Gate Night Gate Nights

Etymology

So called because the Gates of Hell supposedly opened up the night before Halloween, which would allow demons to wander towns and cause mischief. In some areas, the name refers to the mischief of lifting residential gates off their hinges and either exchanging them with other people's gates, or placing them in awkward places such as suspended in trees.

Synonyms

list in Mischief Night
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