port
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A place on the coast at which ships can shelter, or dock to load and unload cargo or passengers.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
pawrtIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpɔɹt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A place on the coast at which ships can shelter, or dock to load and unload cargo or passengers.
A town or city containing such a place, a port city.
nauticalaviationuncountable
The left side of a ship or aircraft to someone who is aboard and facing the bow or nose
An opening or doorway in the side of a ship, especially for boarding or loading; an embrasure through which a cannon may be discharged; a porthole.
An opening where a connection (such as with a pipe) is made.
nauticalaviationuncountable
The left-hand side of a vessel, including aircraft, when one is facing the front. Used to unambiguously refer to directions relative to the vessel structure, rather than to a person or object on board.
verb
Carry, bear, convey, or bring
“The small canoe could be ported easily.”
Carry or hold with both hands diagonally across the body, especially of weapons
transitive
To carry, bear, bring, or transport. See porter.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A place on the coast at which ships can shelter, or dock to load and unload cargo or passengers.
Used this way, port is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
A person employed to carry luggage and supplies.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A grand and imposing entrance (often extended metaphorically).
Easily or conveniently transported.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Heart surgery in which a coronary bypass is performed by the use of small instruments and tiny cameras threaded through small incisions while the heart is stopped and blood is pumped…
A major port city in northeastern China on the Liaodong Peninsula.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Freshwater port and largest city in Oregon.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.