Definition of "portcullis"

portcullis

/pɔːtˈkʌl.ɪs/

noun
plural portcullises or portcullisses or (rare) portculli or (rare) portscullis
1. A gate in the form of a grating which is lowered into place at the entrance to a castle, fort, etc.
2. (historical) An English coin of the reign of Elizabeth I, struck for the use of the East India Company, and bearing the figure of a portcullis on the reverse.
verb
third-person singular simple present portcullises or portcullisses, present participle portcullising or portcullissing, simple past and past participle portcullised or portcullissed
1. To obstruct with, or as with, a portcullis; to shut; to bar.
  Quotations
  […] 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, [Act I, scene iii]