drawbridge

From draw +‎ bridge.

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈdɹɔːbɹɪd͡ʒ/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈdɹɑbɹɪd͡ʒ/

drawbridge (plural drawbridges)

1. A hinged bridge which can be raised (to prevent its being crossed, as across a moat, or to allow watercraft to travel beneath it).
   • 1981, “The Fall Guy”, performed by The Sonora's Tucson Band:

     I might jump an open drawbridge, or Tarzan from a vine / 'Cause I'm the unknown stuntman that makes Eastwood look so fine

2. (figurative, attributive) A tendency to provide only limited access.

   drawbridge mentality

   • 1873 March, Ella Williams, “My Stepdaughter”, in William Conant Church, editor, The Galaxy, volume 15, number 3, page 386:

     I looked at her with wide eyes, and the drawbridge of her reserve fell instantly.

   • 2012, Phillip Vannini, Ferry Tales: Mobility, Place, and Time on Canada's West Coast:

     "Yeah, some people have a drawbridge mentality,” remarks Barry.“They move to an island and then they think that nobody else should be let in after them. […]

   • 2016, Gladys Famoriyo, Quit Hiding, Start Living!:

     And He gave me the steps I needed to take to let down the drawbridge of my heart again.

   • 2019, Christie Rich, Charles Nottingham, Weaver of Dreams:

     They push against the drawbridge of my mind, shaking me to the core.

• (bridge that allows watercraft to travel): bascule bridge

• movable bridge

• pull up the drawbridge

• 
  A fort entryway's drawbridge.
• 
  A drawbridge open to allow a ship beneath.

• bridge-ward