portcullis

UK: /pɔː^rtˈkʌlɪs/ US: /pɔrtˈkʌlɪs/ ,(pôrt kul′is, pōrt-)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

port•cul•lis /pɔrtˈkʌlɪs/   n. [countable]

1. Architecture a strong grating, as of iron, made to slide up and down at the sides of the gateway of a castle.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

port•cul•lis  (pôrt kul′is, pōrt-), n. 

1. Architecture (esp. in medieval castles) a strong grating, as of iron, made to slide along vertical grooves at the sides of a gateway of a fortified place and let down to prevent passage.

• Vulgar Latin *cōlātīcius; see coulee, -itious
• Middle French porte coleice, equivalent. to porte port⁴ + coleice, feminine of coleis flowing, sliding
• Middle English portecolys 1300–50

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

portcullis / pɔːtˈkʌlɪs/ noun

1. an iron or wooden grating suspended vertically in grooves in the gateway of a castle or fortified town and able to be lowered so as to bar the entrance

Etymology: 14th Century port colice, from Old French porte coleïce sliding gate, from porte door, entrance + coleïce, from couler to slide, flow, from Late Latin cōlāre to filter