portcullis Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun gate consisting of an iron or wooden grating that hangs in the entry to a castle or fortified town; can be lowered to prevent passage

WordNet

Port*cul"lis noun
Etymology
OF. porte coulisse, coleïce, a sliding door, fr. L. colare, colatum, to filter, to strain: cf. F. couler to glide. See Port a gate, and cf. Cullis, Colander.
Definitions
  1. (Fort.) A grating of iron or of timbers pointed with iron, hung over the gateway of a fortress, to be let down to prevent the entrance of an enemy. "Let the portcullis fall." Sir W. Scott.
    She . . . the huge portcullis high updrew. Milton.
  2. An English coin of the reign of Elizabeth, struck for the use of the East India Company; -- so called from its bearing the figure of a portcullis on the reverse.
Port*cul"lis transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Portcullised ; present participle & verbal noun Portcullising
Definitions
  1. To obstruct with, or as with, a portcullis; to shut; to bar. R. Shak.

Webster 1913