- Port
- Port Port, n. [F. porte, L. porta, akin to portus; cf. AS.
porte, fr. L. porta. See {Port} a harbor, and cf. {Porte}.]
1. A passageway; an opening or entrance to an inclosed place;
a gate; a door; a portal. [Archaic]
[1913 Webster]
Him I accuse The city ports by this hath entered. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
Form their ivory port the cherubim Forth issuing. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
2. (Naut.) An opening in the side of a vessel; an embrasure through which cannon may be discharged; a porthole; also, the shutters which close such an opening. [1913 Webster]
Her ports being within sixteen inches of the water. --Sir W. Raleigh. [1913 Webster]
3. (Mach.) A passageway in a machine, through which a fluid, as steam, water, etc., may pass, as from a valve to the interior of the cylinder of a steam engine; an opening in a valve seat, or valve face. [1913 Webster]
{Air port}, {Bridle port}, etc. See under {Air}, {Bridle}, etc.
{Port bar} (Naut.), a bar to secure the ports of a ship in a gale.
{Port lid} (Naut.), a lid or hanging for closing the portholes of a vessel.
{Steam port}, & {Exhaust port} (Steam Engine), the ports of the cylinder communicating with the valve or valves, for the entrance or exit of the steam, respectively. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.