verb
Watergate
WAH-tuhr-gayt
verb
1
To treat someone, or handle a situation, in a way that recalls the Watergate political scandal — especially through cover-ups or abuse of power.
"Critics accused the mayor's office of trying to watergate the leaked documents by stonewalling every question."
How to Use Watergate
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishTo act out a political cover-up scandal, echoing the original Watergate affair.
Common pairings
-gate suffix (as in any scandal named after Watergate)
Word Forms
Watergated past tense, Watergates singular
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Critics accused the mayor's office of trying to _____ the leaked documents by stonewalling every question.
Etymology
From the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C., site of the 1972 break-in that triggered the scandal ending in President Nixon's resignation; the hotel itself was named after a spot on the Potomac once used for concerts.