as in trapdoor
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Recent Examples of portcullis
The entrance to the car park even passes under a portcullis and guests’ bags go through an X-ray machine hidden in the rock-face.
—
Caroline Reid, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
The prior owner went all out on building a Medieval-style castle, with a moat, a drawbridge and a portcullis.
—Katherine Clarke, WSJ, 3 Mar. 2022
Medieval amenities include a moat, two watchtowers and two gates, a drawbridge, an underground cave (complete with a Jacuzzi!), trap doors, and a genuine portcullis (a metal-and-wood gate typically seen in medieval fortresses).
—Mary Elizabeth Andriotis, House Beautiful, 20 Jan. 2022
Then Iraq’s new rulers lowered a paper portcullis, demanding fees and the completion of myriad forms.
—The Economist, 10 Apr. 2021
Pass beneath an imposing portcullis into Edinburgh Castle, home to the National War Museum and the 12th-century St. Margaret’s Chapel—believed to be the oldest building in Edinburgh.
—National Geographic, 12 June 2019
Caroline Reid, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
The prior owner went all out on building a Medieval-style castle, with a moat, a drawbridge and a portcullis.
—Katherine Clarke, WSJ, 3 Mar. 2022
Medieval amenities include a moat, two watchtowers and two gates, a drawbridge, an underground cave (complete with a Jacuzzi!), trap doors, and a genuine portcullis (a metal-and-wood gate typically seen in medieval fortresses).
—Mary Elizabeth Andriotis, House Beautiful, 20 Jan. 2022
Then Iraq’s new rulers lowered a paper portcullis, demanding fees and the completion of myriad forms.
—The Economist, 10 Apr. 2021
Pass beneath an imposing portcullis into Edinburgh Castle, home to the National War Museum and the 12th-century St. Margaret’s Chapel—believed to be the oldest building in Edinburgh.
—National Geographic, 12 June 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for portcullis
Noun
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Or maybe the professor failed to notice trapdoors in the locked boxes, and the student had an accomplice behind the scenes who was hastily solving problems and slipping the solutions into the right boxes before they got opened.—
Erica Klarreich,
Quanta Magazine,
9 July 2025
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Concluding Thought Since a personal guarantee is a pledge of all one's worldly non-exempt assets to back the underlying loan, a personal guarantee is basically a financial noose that one puts their head into and then waits to see if the trapdoor opens.—
Jay Adkisson,
Forbes.com,
9 July 2025
Noun
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Instead of destroying the molecules (which is what most people thought would happen), the beam caused the hydrogens to detach and the carbons to link up, thereby slowly building up a diamond lattice.—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
7 Sep. 2025
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For decades, physicists have attempted to do so by approximating the quantum field as a discrete lattice of points.—
Shalma Wegsman,
Quanta Magazine,
5 Sep. 2025
Noun
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This, combined with pre-existing issues with FEMA – webs of red tape and a revolving door of guidance – contribute to a lack of efficiency plaguing the organization and fears of major delays to the recovery process, leaders say.—
Briah Lumpkins,
Charlotte Observer,
9 Sep. 2025
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What this meant was that half the team was unshakeable, and the other half was like a revolving door.—
Jack Hargreaves,
The Dial,
9 Sep. 2025
Noun
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By the 20th over, Pakistan lost six wickets and the following overs continued to collapse the remaining order.—
Paras J. Haji,
Forbes.com,
13 Aug. 2025
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In The Hundred, he’s taken six wickets in five games for Trent Rockets at an average of just 13.33.—
Sukhman Singh,
New York Times,
9 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Portcullis.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/portcullis. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.
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