English Reference
noun · verb · adjective

port

n. · v. · adj.
US /ˈpɔɹt/ UK /pˈɔːt/ port

  1. 01 A2 Elementary

    n.a town or city by the sea where ships can stop to load and unload goods or people.

    n.a coastal location containing facilities for ships to shelter, dock, and transfer cargo or passengers.

    Simple

    The ship spent three days in port while the crew unloaded the containers.

    In context

    The city grew into a major international port due to its deep-water harbour and proximity to major rail networks.

  2. 02 B2 Upper Intermediate Technical nautical

    n.the left side of a ship or aircraft when you are facing the front.

    n.the left-hand side of a vessel, including aircraft, relative to an observer facing the bow.

    Simple

    The captain ordered the crew to look for land on the port side.

    In context

    Navigational lights are colour-coded to prevent collisions, with red indicating the port side and green indicating starboard.

    larboard
  3. 03 B1 Intermediate Computing

    n.a place on a computer where you can plug in a cable or device, like a USB port.

    n.a physical or logical interface through which data is transferred between a computer and other devices or networks.

    Simple

    My laptop doesn't have enough USB ports for all my devices.

    In context

    The technician identified that the hardware failure was isolated to the ethernet port rather than the internal network card.

  4. 04 B2 Upper Intermediate Cooking

    n.a strong, sweet, usually dark red wine that originally comes from Portugal.

    n.a fortified wine, typically sweet and red, produced in the Douro Valley of Portugal.

    Simple

    After dinner, they served a small glass of port with the cheese.

    In context

    The sommelier recommended a vintage port to accompany the rich chocolate dessert.

  5. 05 C1 Advanced Technical Computing

    v.to change a piece of software so that it works on a different type of computer or system.

    v.to adapt, modify, or recode software to enable it to function on a different operating system or hardware platform.

    Simple

    The studio decided to port their popular mobile game to game consoles.

    In context

    Porting the legacy application to a cloud-native environment required significant refactoring of the original source code.

    convertadaptrecode
  6. 06 B2 Upper Intermediate Technical nautical

    adj.relating to the left side of a ship.

    adj.pertaining to the left-hand side of a vessel when facing forward.

    Simple

    The port engine failed, forcing the pilot to land using only the right one.

    In context

    The vessel sustained significant damage to its port bow following the collision in the narrow channel.

Usage port city · port call · port terminal

This entry
Level B1 · Intermediate
Frequency Common
Updated