Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A grating of iron or wooden bars or slats, suspended in the gateway of a fortified place and lowered to block passage.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To arm or furnish with a portcullis; hence, to bar; obstruct.
- noun In fortification, a strong grating of timber or iron, somewhat resembling a harrow, made to slide in vertical grooves in the jambs of the entrance-gate of a fortified place, to protect the gate in case of assault.
- noun In heraldry: Same as
lattice - noun The representation of a portcullis: a rare bearing, but familiar in English art of the fifteenth century from its adoption as a badge by the Tudors and in the city arms of Westminster.
- noun One of the pursuivants of the English College of Heralds: so called from his distinctive badge.
- noun A coin struck in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, with a portcullis stamped on the reverse.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb rare To obstruct with, or as with, a portcullis; to shut; to bar.
- noun (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.
- noun 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.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
gate in the form of agrating which is lowered into place at theentrance to a castle, fort, etc. - verb To obstruct with, or as with, a portcullis; to shut; to bar.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- 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
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word portcullis.
Examples
-
Duke of York in every severy, and with crowned roses and portcullis alternating with each other, intimating that, as the portcullis was the second defence of a fortress when the gate was broken down, so he had a second claim to the crown through his mother, daughter of John de
A Short Account of King's College Chapel Walter Poole Littlechild
-
Behind the portcullis was a thick oaken door studded with steel.
The Cloister and the Hearth Charles Reade 1849
-
The gateway had what is called a portcullis; that is, a heavy iron gate suspended by chains, so as to rise and fall.
Rollo in Scotland Jacob Abbott 1841
-
A portcullis is a defensive latticed iron grating hung over the entrance to a fortified castle, the perfect metaphor for News International, which perpetually sees itself as beset by enemies.
The Guardian World News Harold Evans 2011
-
A portcullis is a defensive latticed iron grating hung over the entrance to a fortified castle, the perfect metaphor for News International, which perpetually sees itself as beset by enemies.
Reuters: Press Release Sir Harold Evans 2011
-
If he was admitted, the iron grating ( "portcullis") rose slowly on its creaking pulleys, the heavy, wooden doors swung open, and he found himself in the courtyard commanded by the great central tower ( "keep"), where the lord and his family lived, especially in time of war.
Early European History Hutton Webster
-
Wind that windlass as gingerly as though it were a watch with a weak heart; you will be raising a kind of portcullis at the other end of the boathouse, but if you're heard doing it at dead of night we may have to run or swim for it.
Mr. Justice Raffles 1893
-
And when we approached Fort Henry I fully expected to see some grand, imposing structure with "battled towers," "donjon keep," "portcullis,"
The Story of a Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil War, 1861-1865 Leander Stillwell 1888
-
Between the slow ticking of the cogs I listened jealously for foreign sounds, and heard at length a gentle dripping across the breadth of the boathouse; that was the last of the "portcullis," as Raffles called it, rising out of the river; indeed, I could now see the difference in the stretch of stream underneath, for the open end of the boathouse was much less dark than mine; and when the faint band of reflected starlight had broadened as I thought enough, I ceased winding and groped my way down the steps into the boat.
Mr. Justice Raffles 1893
-
Let the portcullis fall! "wondering what a" portcullis "was, and if I should ever see one or even a château-fort.
Chateau and Country Life in France Mary Alsop King Waddington
chained_bear commented on the word portcullis
"Fezzik, the portcullis."
—Inigo Montoya
October 11, 2008
dailyword commented on the word portcullis
This word was used in one of the James Herriot books when he was talking about a client.
July 11, 2012