a town or place alongside navigable water with facilities for the loading and unloading of ships - See port of entry
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
port1 /pɔrt/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]
port2 /pɔrt/USA pronunciation n. [uncountable]
adj.
port3 /pɔrt/USA pronunciation n. [uncountable]
port4 /pɔrt/USA pronunciation n. [countable]
-port-, root.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025- a city or town where ships load or unload.
- a place where ships may take refuge from storms;
harbor.
port2 /pɔrt/USA pronunciation n. [uncountable]
- Nautical, Naval Termsthe left-hand side of a vessel or aircraft, facing forward:"Turn hard to port, helmsman,'' the captain ordered.
adj.
- Nautical, Naval Termsof, relating to, or located on the left side of a vessel or aircraft:"Engines afire on the port wing,'' he radioed.
port3 /pɔrt/USA pronunciation n. [uncountable]
- Winea very sweet, usually dark red wine, originally from Portugal.
port4 /pɔrt/USA pronunciation n. [countable]
- Nautical, Naval Termsan opening in the side or other exterior part of a ship for admitting air and light or for taking on cargo.
- a small opening in an armored vehicle, aircraft, or fort through which a gun can be fired or a camera directed.
- Computinga data connection in a computer to which an outside (peripheral) device can be attached:Hook up the printer to your parallel port.
-port-, root.
- -port- comes from Latin, where it has the meaning "carry;
bring.'' This meaning is found in such words as: comport, deport, export, import, importance, important, opportune, opportunity, portable, portage, porter, portfolio, portmanteau, purport, rapport, report, support, transport, transportation.
port1
(pôrt, pōrt),USA pronunciation n.
port′less, adj.
port2 (pôrt, pōrt),USA pronunciation n.
adj.
v.t., v.i.
port3 (pôrt, pōrt),USA pronunciation n.
port4 (pôrt, pōrt),USA pronunciation n.
v.t.
port5 (pôrt, pōrt),USA pronunciation v.t.
n.
Port.,
- a city, town, or other place where ships load or unload.
- a place along a coast in which ships may take refuge from storms;
harbor. - LawAlso called port of entry. any place where persons and merchandise are allowed to pass, by water or land, into and out of a country and where customs officers are stationed to inspect or appraise imported goods.
- a geographical area that forms a harbor:the largest port on the eastern seaboard.
- Informal Termsan airport.
- Latin portus harbor, haven; akin to ford
- Middle English, Old English bef. 900
- 2.See corresponding entry in Unabridged anchorage. See harbor.
port2 (pôrt, pōrt),USA pronunciation n.
- Nautical, Naval Termsthe left-hand side of a vessel or aircraft, facing forward.
adj.
- Nautical, Naval Termspertaining to or designating port.
- Nautical, Naval Termslocated on the left side of a vessel or aircraft.
v.t., v.i.
- Nautical, Naval Termsto turn or shift to the port, or left, side.
- special use of port4 1570–80
port3 (pôrt, pōrt),USA pronunciation n.
- Wineany of a class of very sweet wines, mostly dark-red, originally from Portugal.
- Portuguese Oporto Oporto, the main port of shipment for the wines of Portugal
- earlier Oporto, (Port) O Port 1695–95
port4 (pôrt, pōrt),USA pronunciation n.
- Nautical, Naval Termsan opening in the side or other exterior part of a ship for admitting air and light or for taking on cargo. Cf. porthole (def. 1).
- Mechanical Engineering[Mach.]an aperture in the surface of a cylinder, for the passage of steam, air, water, etc.
- a small aperture in an armored vehicle, aircraft, or fortification through which a gun can be fired or a camera directed.
- Computinga data connection in a computer to which a peripheral device or a transmission line from a remote terminal can be attached.
- the raised center portion on a bit for horses.
- [Chiefly Scot.]a gate or portal, as to a town or fortress.
v.t.
- Computingto create a new version of (an application program) to run on a different hardware platform (sometimes fol. by over).
- Latin porta gate; akin to portus port1
- Middle English, Old English bef. 950
port5 (pôrt, pōrt),USA pronunciation v.t.
- Militaryto carry (a rifle or other weapon) with both hands, in a slanting direction across the front of the body, with the barrel or like part near the left shoulder.
n.
- Militarythe position of a rifle or other weapon when ported.
- [Archaic.]manner of bearing oneself;
carriage or deportment.
- Latin portāre to carry; see fare
- French porter
- 1560–70
Port.,
- Place NamesPortugal.
- Portuguese.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
- Also called (formerly): larboard
the left side of an aircraft or vessel when facing the nose or bow (as modifier)
Comparestarboard 1
to turn or be turned towards the port
a sweet fortified dessert wine
an opening in the side of a ship, fitted with a watertight door, for access to the holds - See
porthole 1 a small opening in a wall, armoured vehicle, etc, for firing through an aperture, esp one controlled by a valve, by which fluid enters or leaves the cylinder head of an engine, compressor, etc a logic circuit for the input and output of data a gate or portal in a town or fortress
- (transitive)
to carry (a rifle, etc) in a position diagonally across the body with the muzzle near the left shoulder
(esp in Queensland) a suitcase or schoolbag
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
Portugal Portuguese
'port' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Aalborg
- Aarhus
- Abidjan
- Abu Dhabi
- Acapulco
- Accra
- Acre
- Adelaide
- Aden
- Agadir
- Agulhas
- Ajaccio
- Albany
- Albuquerque
- Alexandria
- Alexandroúpolis
- Algeciras
- Algiers
- Alicante
- Alleppey
- Amado
- Amalfi
- Ambon
- Amoy
- Amsterdam
- Anchorage
- Ancona
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands
- Angra do Heroismo
- Annaba
- Annapolis Royal
- Antibes
- Antwerp
- Anzio
- Aqaba
- Aracaju
- Arbroath
- Archangel
- Arica
- Ashdod
- Ashtabula
- Asunción
- Auckland
- Augusta
- Aveiro
- Ayr
- Badalona
- Bahía Blanca
- Baku
- Balaklava