PORTCULLIS
Port*cul"lis, n. Etym: [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.)
Defn: 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.
PORTCULLIS
Port*cul"lis, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Portcullised; p. pr. & vb. n.
Portcullising.]
Defn: To obstruct with, or as with, a portcullis; to shut; to bar.
[R.] Shak.
PORTE
Porte, n. Etym: [F. porte a gate, L. porta. See Port a gate.]
Defn: The Ottoman court; the government of the Turkish empire, officially called the Sublime Porte, from the gate (port) of the sultan's palace at which justice was administered.
PORTE-COCHERE
Porte"-co`chère", n. Etym: [F. See Port a gate, and Coach.] (Arch.)
Defn: A large doorway allowing vehicles to drive into or through a building. It is common to have the entrance door open upon the passage of the porte-cochère. Also, a porch over a driveway before an entrance door.