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.

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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

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Etymology

Origin of coulisse

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

Example Sentences

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

From The Guardian • Aug. 9, 2012

Sale in blank was absolutely forbidden, and in the coulisse business was at a standstill.

From New York Times Current History: The European War from the Beginning to March 1915, Vol 1, No. 2 Who Began the War, and Why? by Various

A few days later the July liquidation, in the official market as well as in the coulisse, was postponed until the end of August, which action proved the necessity of a period of grace.

From New York Times Current History: The European War from the Beginning to March 1915, Vol 1, No. 2 Who Began the War, and Why? by Various

"Et quant à un duc de farce, je ne m'en fiche pas mal, moi," it said in an accent curiously compounded of the foreign and the coulisse.

From The Inheritors by Conrad, Joseph

The vast receptacle of an "atelier," where all seems small, even man, has something of the air of an Opera "coulisse"; here lie ancient garments, gilded armor, fragments of stuffs, machinery.

From Vendetta by Wormeley, Katharine Prescott