\Port*cul"lis\, n. [OF. porte coulisse, cole["i]ce, 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.