gateway drug
nounDefinition of gateway drug
: a drug (such as alcohol or marijuana) whose use is thought to lead to the use of and dependence on a harder drug (such as cocaine or heroin)
Examples of gateway drug in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
What remains to be seen is if Apple TV+ is will be the gateway drug for new users of Appleās services, which already saw a 17% year-to-year rise in revenue as of May 2019. — Dan Reilly, Fortune, "The Real Strategy for Appleās TV+ Isnāt to Compete with Netflix. It Just Wants a Bit of Your Time," 11 Sep. 2019 As such, the show can be a gateway drug for newbies who donāt know much about Star Wars but can get caught up in the Wild-West version of its world. — Eliana Dockterman, Time, "We Broke Down Every Second of the Mandalorian Trailer," 25 Aug. 2019 For The Times) Think of this bowl of wontons swimming in chile oil as a gateway drug into the magical world of Sichuan food for friends who donāt like spicy/Chinese/anything-with-cilantro to eat. — Jenn Harrisstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, "The best dumplings in Los Angeles, an official guide," 29 July 2019 But the argument for prohibition makes even less sense if Juul serves as a gateway drug and gets kids hooked on nicotine. — James P. Sutton, National Review, "San Franciscoās Vaping Ban Threatens to Push Teens Back Toward Cigarettes," 4 July 2019 For readers with a budding interest in economics, other tomes will prove a more effective gateway drug. — The Economist, "What the music industry reveals about economics," 21 June 2019 The tender white fish is like a gateway drug to cooking with other types of fish. — Audrey Bruno, SELF, "19 Simple and Delicious Ways to Cook With Tilapia," 18 Sep. 2018 Even as users sue the manufacturer for getting them hooked on nicotine, vapes are increasingly the gateway drug of choice. — Angela Chen, The Verge, "Teens are turning away from cigarettes and alcohol and toward vaping," 17 Dec. 2018 My wife thinks the experience will be my gateway drug. — Mike Kerrigan, WSJ, "Bear With Me? Get It Away!," 26 July 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gateway drug.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for gateway drug
gateway drug
nounEnglish Language Learners Definition of gateway drug
: a drug (such as alcohol or marijuana) that is thought to lead to the use of more dangerous drugs (such as cocaine or heroin)
See the full definition for gateway drug in the English Language Learners Dictionary
gateway drug
noun
gateĀ·way drug
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Medical Definition of gateway drug
: a drug (such as alcohol or marijuana) whose use is thought to lead to the use of and dependence on more dangerous, addicting substances (such as cocaine or heroin)
To end at the beginning, nicotine ā¦ is now considered a "gateway drug," as it commonly precedes and is comorbid with other substance use.— Donald A. Henderson, The Journal of the American Medical Association, 9 June 1999