from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Port \Port\, n. [AS. port, L. portus: cf. F. port. See {Farm},
v., {Ford}, and 1st, 3d, & 4h {Port}.]
1. A place where ships may ride secure from storms; a
sheltered inlet, bay, or cove; a harbor; a haven. Used
also figuratively.
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Peering in maps for ports and piers and roads.
--Shak.
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We are in port if we have Thee. --Keble.
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2. In law and commercial usage, a harbor where vessels are
admitted to discharge and receive cargoes, from whence
they depart and where they finish their voyages.
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{Free port}. See under {Free}.
{Port bar}. (Naut,)
(a) A boom. See {Boom}, 4, also {Bar}, 3.
(b) A bar, as of sand, at the mouth of, or in, a port.
{Port charges} (Com.), charges, as wharfage, etc., to which a
ship or its cargo is subjected in a harbor.
{Port of entry}, a harbor where a customhouse is established
for the legal entry of merchandise.
{Port toll} (Law), a payment made for the privilege of
bringing goods into port.
{Port warden}, the officer in charge of a port; a harbor
master.
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from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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]
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Him I accuse
The city ports by this hath entered. --Shak.
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Form their ivory port the cherubim
Forth issuing. --Milton.
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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.
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Her ports being within sixteen inches of the water.
--Sir W.
Raleigh.
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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.
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{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.
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