Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A drawbridge.
- noun In the manége, the resistance of a horse by rearing repeatedly so as to be in danger of falling over.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Man.) The action of a horse in rearing repeatedly and dangerously.
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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We had reached the outer court by this, and were hurrying for the bridge that led to the pontlevis when we saw a tall man, his cuirass glittering like silver in the moonlight, step out of the shadow and signal to a trumpeter, who stood at his side.
Orrain A Romance S. Levett-Yeats
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Almost had we freed it when the trumpet sounded again, and with a rattling of chains the huge pontlevis rose.
Orrain A Romance S. Levett-Yeats
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He bade us haste if we wished to quit the Louvre ere the pontlevis were raised, and hurrying after him we made our way to the southern gate, the only one open.
Orrain A Romance S. Levett-Yeats
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It lay on the other side of the pontlevis -- the fosse between us -- and was of angular shape, surmounted by a statue of Charles V. of France, and, as De Lorgnac said, was already doomed to destruction to make way for the improvements contemplated by the King.
Orrain A Romance S. Levett-Yeats
qms commented on the word pontlevis
A moat had its uses I’m sure:
It must have been mainly a sewer,
But when the pontlevis
That crossed that foul crevice
Was raised all within were secure.
December 22, 2018