To weaken somebody out of the gate
Posted by Bob on July 12, 2005
In Reply to: To weaken somebody out of the gate posted by HWK on July 12, 2005
: I come across the phrase, " to weaken somebody out of the gate." I infer it to mean force somebody out of a position. ANy clear definitions?
"Out of the gate" is the beginning of a horse race. A bell sounds and the sttarting gate opens its doors to release the horses. So to do something "out of the gate" is to do it at the very beginning.