port

1 of 10

noun (1)

1
: a place where ships may ride secure from storms : haven
2
a
: a harbor town or city where ships may take on or discharge cargo
b
3

port

2 of 10

noun (2)

1
chiefly Scotland : gate
2
a
: an opening (as in a valve seat or valve face) for intake or exhaust of a fluid
b
: the area of opening in a cylinder face of a passageway for the working fluid in an engine
also : such a passageway
c
: a small opening in a container or vessel especially for viewing or for the controlled passage of material
access port
3
a
: an opening in a vessel's side (as for admitting light or loading cargo)
b
archaic : the cover for a porthole
4
: a hole in an armored vehicle or fortification through which guns may be fired
5
: a hardware interface by which a computer is connected to another device (such as a printer, a mouse, or another computer)
broadly : jack sense 4

port

3 of 10

noun (3)

1
: the manner of bearing oneself
2
archaic : state sense 3
3
: the position in which a military weapon is carried at the command port arms

port

4 of 10

verb (1)

ported; porting; ports

transitive verb

: to turn or put (a helm) to the left
used chiefly as a command

port

5 of 10

noun (4)

: the left side of a ship or aircraft looking forward

called also larboard

compare starboard

port

6 of 10

adjective

: located on the left side of a ship or airplane looking forward : of, relating to, or situated to port
The forward and port staterooms share a head and both feature upper/lower bunks.Dex Hart

port

7 of 10

noun (5)

: a sweet fortified wine of rich taste and aroma made in Portugal
also : a similar wine made elsewhere

port

8 of 10

verb (2)

ported; porting; ports

transitive verb

: to translate (software) into a version for another computer or operating system

port

9 of 10

abbreviation (1)

Port

10 of 10

abbreviation (2)

Examples of port in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Ruthless gangs have a stranglehold on the city, preying on the population, carving neighborhoods into warring criminal fiefdoms, and cutting Haiti’s international port off from the rest of the country. Caitlin Stephen Hu, CNN, 4 Mar. 2024 Still, Israeli officials have worked to undercut UNRWA’s ability to function, freezing the agency’s bank account and temporarily blocking a shipment of flour destined for Gaza at an Israeli port last month. Claire Parker, Washington Post, 3 Mar. 2024 Keep in mind that because the ship is so large, Santorini and Mykonos are both tender ports. Lauren Dana Ellman, Travel + Leisure, 2 Mar. 2024 The vessel had been abandoned for 12 days after the attack, though plans had been made to try and tow the ship to a safe port. TIME, 2 Mar. 2024 Don't be alarmed if only a few drops of water come from the connector port. Kurt Knutsson, Cyberguy Report, Fox News, 29 Feb. 2024 The order to beef up security at U.S. ports comes amid wider geopolitical friction between Washington and Beijing. Lionel Lim, Fortune Asia, 22 Feb. 2024 Nationwide, ports employ roughly 31 million people and contribute $5.4 trillion to the economy, and could be left vulnerable to a ransomware or other type of cyberattack, Neuberger said. Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 22 Feb. 2024 In addition to the HDMI ARC input, the REN speakers have Bluetooth 5.3 built-in, a USB-C port, plus an optical digital TOSLink input that can handle audio files up to 24-bit/96kHz. Mark Sparrow, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2024
Adjective
State news agency Efe said that 1,000 tractors were heading slowly towards Barcelona's city center, causing major traffic jams on roads into the northeastern port capital of Spain's Catalonia region. Ciarán Giles and Raf Casert, Quartz, 8 Feb. 2024 While other states have more aggressively courted manufacturing work than Massachusetts has, the state still expects the burgeoning offshore wind industry to produce hundreds if not thousands of jobs to emerge in port cities like New Bedford and Salem. Jon Chesto, BostonGlobe.com, 25 June 2023 The striking workers include pilot service boat operators and deckhands needed to get port pilots on the inbound vessels. Terry Collins, USA TODAY, 8 Aug. 2023 The war in Ukraine, rising energy prices and supply-chain disruptions during the pandemic have put port authorities on high alert for a rising number of cyberattacks. Catherine Stupp, WSJ, 21 Mar. 2023 Costing $8 million to build, the 729-foot-long ship was designed to haul taconite iron ore from mines in Duluth, Minnesota, to iron works in port cities around the Great Lakes. Chris Foran, Journal Sentinel, 3 May 2023 Despite the daily presence of annoying tourists clogging port cities’ winding streets, a study found that up to 40 percent of cruise passengers traveling through Bergen, Norway, never left the ship; half of those who did spent less than twenty-five dollars. Lauren Oyler, Harper’s Magazine , 10 Apr. 2023 Apple's dual-port USB-C power adapter has saved me many late-night trips to Best Buy. WIRED, 25 Mar. 2023 The winery's port-style wine, Madeira Blanc du Bois, is also popular. Abigail Rosenthal, Chron, 21 Apr. 2022
Verb
Developing games for multiple platforms, by contrast, usually creates more work that focuses on porting rather than iterating on a game’s design. Gene Park, Washington Post, 6 Mar. 2024 The mezzanine seating featured a flip-down teak bar to port with a flip-up window with Australian undertones. Kevin Koenig, Robb Report, 5 Mar. 2024 That means tracing cocoa from pod to port, a costly mandate for an industry already staggered by declining production and record prices for futures. Mumbi Gitau, Fortune Europe, 27 Feb. 2024 Several app makers are porting their existing iPad apps over to the Vision Pro rather than creating new apps specifically for the device, and that includes Apple itself. Emily Price, PCMAG, 21 Jan. 2024 The Linux malware ported several functions found in Trochilus and combined them with a new Socket Secure (SOCKS) implementation. Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, 18 Sep. 2023 Some of Apple’s biggest apps will likely be ported over from their iPad versions to the headset. Emily Price, PCMAG, 21 Jan. 2024 After a recent update (Tapo 3.0), TP-Link is now letting users port their Kasa devices into the Tapo app. Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, The Verge, 12 Dec. 2023 The answer is less clear today, since most console games are ported to PC and many PC games are ported to console. Matthew Smith, Ars Technica, 8 July 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'port.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English, from Old English & Anglo-French, from Latin portus — more at ford

Noun (2)

Middle English porte, from Anglo-French, gate, door, from Latin porta passage, gate; akin to Latin portus port

Noun (3)

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from porter to carry, from Latin portare

Noun (4) and Verb (1)

probably from port entry 1 or port entry 2

Noun (5)

Oporto, Portugal

Verb (2)

perhaps from port entry 2 (hardware interface)

First Known Use

Noun (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (3)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb (1)

1580, in the meaning defined above

Noun (4)

circa 1544, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1842, in the meaning defined above

Noun (5)

circa 1626, in the meaning defined above

Verb (2)

1984, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of port was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near port

Cite this Entry

“Port.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/port. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

port

1 of 5 noun
ˈpōrt How to pronounce port (audio)
ˈpȯrt
1
: a place where ships may take shelter from storms
2
: a harbor town or city where ships load or unload cargo
3

port

2 of 5 noun
1
a
: an opening (as in machinery) for gas, steam, or water to go in or out
b
: a place of entry into a system
2
3

port

3 of 5 verb
: to turn (the helm of a ship) to the left
used chiefly as a command

port

4 of 5 noun
: the left side of a ship or aircraft looking forward
port adjective

port

5 of 5 noun
: a rich sweet wine
Etymology

Noun

Middle English port "a place for ships to be secured," from Old English port and early French port (both, same meaning), from Latin portus (same meaning)

Noun

Middle English porte "gate, an opening in the side of a ship for light or moving cargo in or out," from early French porte "door, gate," from Latin porta "passage, gate" — related to portal

Noun

probably from 1port "a place for ships to be secured" or 2port "an opening in the side of a ship"; so called because early sailing vessels kept the left side toward the port because the steering mechanism was always on the right side see Word History at starboard

Noun

Oporto, Portugal

Medical Definition

port

noun
: an opening, passage, or channel through which something can be introduced into the body: as
a
: a small medical device (as of plastic or titanium) that is implanted below the skin, is attached to a catheter typically inserted into a blood vessel, and has a small opening through which a needle can be inserted to administer fluids or drugs or withdraw blood
b
: an incision (as one made between intercostal spaces) for passing a medical instrument (as an endoscope) into the body

More from Merriam-Webster on port

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