# port

/ˈpɔɹt/ (US) · /pˈɔːt/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/port
Updated: 2026-08-15

## Senses

### 1. harbour for ships

noun · CEFR A2

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

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

- The ship spent three days in port while the crew unloaded the containers.
- The city grew into a major international port due to its deep-water harbour and proximity to major rail networks.

### 2. left side of a ship

noun · CEFR B2 · Technical

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

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

- The captain ordered the crew to look for land on the port side.
- Navigational lights are colour-coded to prevent collisions, with red indicating the port side and green indicating starboard.

### 3. computing connection

noun · CEFR B1

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

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

- My laptop doesn't have enough USB ports for all my devices.
- The technician identified that the hardware failure was isolated to the ethernet port rather than the internal network card.

### 4. fortified wine

noun · CEFR B2

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

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

- After dinner, they served a small glass of port with the cheese.
- The sommelier recommended a vintage port to accompany the rich chocolate dessert.

### 5. to adapt software

verb · CEFR C1 · Technical

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

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

- The studio decided to port their popular mobile game to game consoles.
- Porting the legacy application to a cloud-native environment required significant refactoring of the original source code.

### 6. nautical left

adjective · CEFR B2 · Technical

relating to the left side of a ship.

For teachers: pertaining to the left-hand side of a vessel when facing forward.

- The port engine failed, forcing the pilot to land using only the right one.
- The vessel sustained significant damage to its port bow following the collision in the narrow channel.

## Examples

- The ship arrived at the port early this morning.
- The city grew into a major trading hub because its deep-water port could accommodate the largest cargo vessels.
- Modern laptops often sacrifice a variety of dedicated ports for a few multi-purpose connections to maintain a slim profile.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.