herse

Pronunciation: /hɜːs/

The English word “herse” has 2 meanings listed here.

noun

A kind of gate or portcullis, having iron bars, like a harrow, studded with iron spikes, hung above gateways so that it may be quickly lowered to impede the advance of an enemy.
A funeral ceremony.

From Middle English hierche (“type of harrow”), from Middle French herce, herse. Doublet of hearse.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.