Port*cul"lis (?), n. [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.] 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, 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.