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port

 - 18 dictionary results
Port
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port

1  [pawrt, pohrt]
–noun
1. a city, town, or other place where ships load or unload.
2. a place along a coast in which ships may take refuge from storms; harbor.
3. Also called port of entry. Law. 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.
4. a geographical area that forms a harbor: the largest port on the eastern seaboard.
5. Informal. an airport.
Use port in a Sentence
Origin:
bef. 900; ME, OE < L portus harbor, haven; akin to ford

Related forms:
portless, adjective

Synonyms:
2. anchorage. See harbor.
Port
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port

2  [pawrt, pohrt]
–noun
1. the left-hand side of a vessel or aircraft, facing forward.
–adjective
2. pertaining to or designating port.
3. located on the left side of a vessel or aircraft.
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
4. to turn or shift to the port, or left, side.
Origin:
1570–80; special use of port 4

port

3  [pawrt, pohrt]
–noun
any of a class of very sweet wines, mostly dark-red, originally from Portugal.
Origin:
1695–95; earlier Oporto, (Port) O Port < Pg Oporto Oporto, the main port of shipment for the wines of Portugal

port

4  [pawrt, pohrt]
–noun
1. an opening in the side or other exterior part of a ship for admitting air and light or for taking on cargo. Compare porthole (def. 1).
2. Machinery. an aperture in the surface of a cylinder, for the passage of steam, air, water, etc.
3. a small aperture in an armored vehicle, aircraft, or fortification through which a gun can be fired or a camera directed.
4. Computers. a data connection in a computer to which a peripheral device or a transmission line from a remote terminal can be attached.
5. the raised center portion on a bit for horses.
6. Chiefly Scot. a gate or portal, as to a town or fortress.
–verb (used with object)
7. Computers. to create a new version of (an application program) to run on a different hardware platform (sometimes fol. by over).
Origin:
bef. 950; ME, OE < L porta gate; akin to portus port 1

port

5  [pawrt, pohrt]
–verb (used with object)
1. Military. to 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.
–noun
2. Military. the position of a rifle or other weapon when ported.
3. Archaic. manner of bearing oneself; carriage or deportment.
Origin:
1560–70; < F porter < L portāre to carry; see fare

Port.

 
1. Portugal.
2. Portuguese.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To port
port 1   (pôrt, pōrt)   
n.  

  1. Abbr. Pt.

    1. A place on a waterway with facilities for loading and unloading ships.

    2. A city or town on a waterway with such facilities.

    3. The waterfront district of a city.

  2. A place along a coast that gives ships and boats protection from storms and rough water; a harbor.

  3. A port of entry.


[Middle English, from Old English, from Latin portus; see per-2 in Indo-European roots.]
port 2   (pôrt, pōrt)   
n.  The left-hand side of a ship or aircraft facing forward. Also called larboard.
adj.  Of, relating to, or on the port.
tr. & intr.v.   port·ed, port·ing, ports
To turn (a craft) or make a shift to the port side: port the helm; ported sharply to avoid a shoal.

[Probably from port side, from port1.]
port 3   (pôrt, pōrt)   
n.  

  1. Nautical

    1. An opening in a ship's side providing access to the interior.

    2. A porthole.

    3. Archaic A cover for a porthole.

    4. An entrance to or exit from a data network.

    5. A connection point for a peripheral device.

  2. An opening, as in a cylinder or valve face, for the passage of steam or fluid.

  3. A hole in an armored vehicle or a fortified structure for viewing or for firing weapons.

    1. An entrance to or exit from a data network.

    2. A connection point for a peripheral device.

  5. Scots A gateway or portal, as to a town.

tr.v.   port·ed, port·ing, ports
Computer Science To modify (software) for use on a different machine or platform.

[Middle English, gate, porthole, from Old French porte, gate, from Latin porta; see per-2 in Indo-European roots.]
port 4 also Port   (pôrt, pōrt)   
n.  A rich sweet fortified wine.

[After Oporto.]
port 5   (pôrt, pōrt)   
tr.v.   port·ed, port·ing, ports
To hold or carry (a weapon) diagonally across the body, with the muzzle or blade near the left shoulder.
n.  

  1. The position of a rifle or other weapon when ported.

  2. The manner in which one carries oneself; bearing.


[French porter, to carry, from Old French, from Latin portāre; see per-2 in Indo-European roots. N., Middle English porte, from Old French port, from porter, to carry.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

port  (1)
"harbor," O.E. port "harbor, haven," reinforced by O.Fr. port, both O.E. and O.Fr. from L. portus "port, harbor," originally "entrance, passage," from PIE *prtu- "a going, a passage," from base *per- "to lead, pass over" (cf. Skt. parayati "carries over;" Gk. poros "journey, passage;" L. porta "gate," portare "passage;" Avestan peretush "passage, ford, bridge;" Armenian hordan "go forward;" Welsh rhyd "ford;" O.C.S. pariti "fly;" O.E. faran "to go, journey," O.N. fjörðr "inlet, estuary"). Meaning "left side of a ship" is attested from 1543, from notion of "the side facing the harbor" (when a ship is docked). It replaced larboard in common usage to avoid confusion with starboard (q.v.); officially so by Admiralty order of 1844 and U.S. Navy Department notice of 1846. Fig. sense "place of refuge" is attested from 1426; phrase any port in a storm first recorded 1749.

port  (2)
"gateway," O.E., from O.Fr. porte "gate, entrance," from L. porta "gate, door," from PIE base *per- (see port (1)). Specific meaning "porthole, opening in the side of a ship" is attested from 1243.

port  (3)
"bearing, mien," c.1369, from O.Fr. port, from porter "to carry," from L. portare (see port (1)).

port  (4)
"sweet dark-red wine," 1691, shortened from Oporto, city in northwest Portugal from which the wine was originally shipped, from O Porto "the port."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Science Dictionary
port   (pôrt)  Pronunciation Key 

  1. An opening, as in a cylinder or valve face, for the passage of steam or fluid.

  2. A place where data can pass into or out of a central processing unit, computer, or peripheral. With central processing units, a port is a fixed set of connections for incoming and outgoing data or instructions. With computers and peripherals, a port is generally a socket into which a connector can be plugged.


The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Computing Dictionary

port
1. A logical channel or channel endpoint in a communications system. The Transmission Control Protocol and User Datagram Protocol transport layer protocols used on Ethernet use port numbers to distinguish between (demultiplex) different logical channels on the same network interface on a computer.
Each application program has a unique port number associated with it, defined in /etc/services or the Network Information Service "services" database. Some protocols, e.g. telnet and HTTP (which is actually a special form of telnet) have default ports specified as above but can use other ports as well.
Some port numbers are defined in RFC 3232 (which replaces RFC 1700). Ports are now divided into: "Well Known" or "Privileged", and "Ephemeral" or "Unprivileged" (comprising "Registered", "Dynamic", "Private").
(2004-12-30)
2. To translate or modify software to run on a different platform, or the results of doing so. The portability of the software determines how easy it is to port.
3. An imperative language descended from Zed from Waterloo Microsystems (now Hayes Canada) ca. 1979.
["Port Language" document in the Waterloo Port Development System].
(2002-06-19)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Idioms & Phrases

port

see any port in a storm.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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