portcullis

plural portcullises · plural portcullisses · plural rare portculli · plural rare portscullis · alternative archaic percullice · alternative archaic portclose · alternative archaic portculleis · alternative archaic portculles · alternative archaic port cullis · alternative archaic port-cullis · alternative obsolete portcluse · alternative rare portculis · alternative rare portecullis · alternative rare porte-cullis

1. A gate in the form of a grating which is lowered into place at the gateway of a castle, a fort, etc.

   Synonyms: cataract

2. historicalAn old English coin from the reign of Elizabeth I, minted for the use of the East India Company, and bearing the picture of a portcullis on the reverse.

present singular third person portcullises · present singular third person portcullisses · participle present portcullising · participle present portcullissing · participle past portcullised · past portcullised · participle past portcullissed · past portcullissed · alternative archaic percullice · alternative archaic portclose · alternative archaic portculleis · alternative archaic portculles · alternative archaic port cullis · alternative archaic port-cullis · alternative obsolete portcluse · alternative rare portculis

1. usually in the passive voiceTo obstruct with, or as with, a portcullis; to shut; to bar.

   […]Within my mouth you haue engaold my tongue, / Doubly portculliſt with my teeth and lippes[…]

   1595 December 9 (first known performance), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedie of King Richard the Second. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Valentine Simmes for Androw Wise, […], published 1597, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]