Port*cul"lis (?), n. [OF. porte coulisse, coleice, a sliding door, fr. L. colare, colatum, to filter, to strain: cf. F. couler to glide. See Port a gate, and cf. Cullis, Colander.] 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.
© Webster 1913.
Port*cul"lis, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Portcullised (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Portcullising.] To obstruct with, or as with, a portcullis; to shut; to bar. [R.]
Shak.
© Webster 1913. | 
