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

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

"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

As is usual at that time, there was a crowd around the delivery-window; but by means of the simple contrivance of a gallery, or coulisse, each applicant was enabled to take his turn.

From The Guerilla Chief And other Tales by Reid, Mayne

The same "sesame" opened to him the coulisse of the Opera and the penetralia of the Fran�ais.

From Tom Burke Of "Ours", Volume II by Lever, Charles James