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# portcullis

«portcullis» in Mova's school dictionary: **A heavy grid of iron or wooden bars that slides down in…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (a portcullis, portcullises)

### meaning for a pupil

A heavy grid of iron or wooden bars that slides down in grooves to close a castle gateway. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/portcullis/#m1)

### sense in the lessons

In history lessons on medieval castles: the portcullis was dropped to stop attackers, with «murder holes» above the gateway. The portcullis is also a symbol of the UK Parliament. Used in adventure stories and games.

### examples

- The guards lowered the portcullis to keep out the enemy. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/portcullis/#x1)
- The portcullis crashed down just behind the knight. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/portcullis/#x2)
- We saw the old portcullis at the castle. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/portcullis/#x3)
- The portcullis was raised with chains and a winch. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/portcullis/#x4)
- A portcullis appears on the badge of Parliament. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/portcullis/#x5)
- Arrows flew through the bars of the portcullis. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/portcullis/#x6)

### note

Pronounced port-CULL-is. Plural: portcullises. From old French for «sliding door».

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «portcullis» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/portcullis/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.