coulisse

American  

[koo-lees] / kuˈlis /

noun

1. a timber or the like having a groove for guiding a sliding panel.

2. Theater.

   1. the space between two wing flats, leg drops, or the like.

   2. any space or area backstage.

   3. wing flat.

---

coulisse British  

/ kuːˈliːs /

noun

1. Also called: cullis.  a timber member grooved to take a sliding panel, such as a sluicegate, portcullis, or stage flat

2. 1. a flat piece of scenery situated in the wings of a theatre; wing flat

   2. a space between wing flats

3. part of the Paris Bourse where unofficial securities are traded Compare parquet

---

Etymology

Origin of coulisse

1810–20; < French: groove, something that slides in a groove; see portcullis

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

coulisse

Hovering somewhere in the coulisse of these performances, there seems to be an anxiety about authenticity.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 9, 2012

It is also a term of the Paris Bourse, derived from a coulisse, or passage in which transactions were carried on without the authorized agents de change.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 6 "Coucy-le-Château" to "Crocodile" by Various

I to be married out of hand like a laundress of the coulisse!

From The Heart of Denise and Other Tales by S. (Sidney) Levett-Yeats

Her easy confession of the garden-company opened the trying scene,—almost in the coulisse.

From Titan: A Romance v. 1 (of 2) by Jean Paul Friedrich Richter

Portcullis is from Old Fr. porte coulisse, sliding door.

From The Romance of Words (4th ed.) by Ernest Weekley