gate fever

1 9.2

A feeling of nervousness or excitement just before boarding a plane

noun

: ansiedad de embarque

Long security lines usually heighten my gate fever before a flight.

Examples

Every time he travels, his gate fever makes him double-check his boarding pass.
I always feel gate fever before my flights.
She tried to calm her gate fever while waiting at the departure gate.
Do you experience gate fever when traveling?
She felt a rush of gate fever as they announced her flight was finally boarding.
The excitement of travel gave him a slight case of gate fever while waiting at the airport.
As the boarding time approached, the passengers experienced gate fever anticipating their vacation.

Synonyms

jitters

vsgate fever

Informal

1 5.5

A strong nervous feeling that often comes before an important event

is the same idea but felt specifically before boarding a plane

stage fever

vsgate fever

6.6

A feeling of being nervous and excited before going on stage

is the same feeling but happens before boarding a flight

Antonyms

calmness

9 2.7

A state without strong feelings or worry in your mind

How Anxious

to panic

272 2.3

gate fever

1 9.2

nervousness

36 2.7

unease

19 4.4

calmness

9 2.7

Surface Forms

gate fever singular

gate fevers plural

Morphology

gate + fever

The meaning is directly compositional: 'gate' (boarding passage) combined with 'fever' (a state of intense excitement/anxiety) yields an understandable notion of excitement/anxiety at the gate. The 'X fever' pattern (e.g., 'gold fever', 'fever for something') is productive and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer this meaning.

Etymology

Gate fever comes from the image of a traveler at the airport gate who feels like they have a fever, hot and nervous just before boarding. So, gate fever means the 'anxiety' or 'excitement' you feel while waiting to get on a flight.