WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Port*cul"lis
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [OF. porte coulisse, cole?ce, a sliding door, fr. L. colare, colatum, to filter, to strain: cf. F. couler to glide. See Port a gate, and cf. Cullis, Colander.]
Definition : 1. (Fort.)

Defn: 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.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913

Pronunciation : Port*cul"lis
Part of Speech : v.
Definition : Defn: To obstruct with, or as with, a portcullis; to shut; to bar. [R.] Shak.

t. [imp. & p. p. Portcullised; p. pr. & vb. n. Portcullising.]
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913