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gateway drug. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
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English
Noun
gateway drug (plural gateway drugs)
- An addictive substance that is seen as relatively harmless by itself, but is believed to encourage the user to experiment with more harmful substances.
- (by extension, figurative) Any thing or area of interest that tends to lead to deeper involvement.
2014, Dave Fancher, Book of F#: Breaking Free with Managed Functional Programming, page XX:It has been said that LINQ is a gateway drug for functional programming
2019, Emily Padraic, Under My Skin, page 3:Darn you, Downton Abbey, for being the gateway drug for all things BBC.
Translations
substance that is believed to encourage the user to experiment with more harmful substances
Further reading