From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishportport1 /pɔːt $ pɔːrt/ ●●● W2 noun 1 where ships stop [countable, uncountable]TTW a place where ships can be loaded and unloadedbe in port We’ll have two days ashore while the ship is in port.come into port/leave port The ferry was about to leave port.2 town [countable]TTW a town or city with a harbour or docks where ships can be loaded or unloaded Britain’s largest port3 computer [countable]TD a part of a computer where you can connect another piece of equipment, such as a printer4 wine [uncountable]DFD strong sweet Portuguese wine that is usually drunk after a meal a glass of port5 side of ship [uncountable]TTWSIDE the left side of a ship or aircraft when you are looking towards the front OPP starboard on the port sideto port The plane tilted to port.6 → any port in a storm → port of callCOLLOCATIONS – Meanings 1 & 2ADJECTIVES/NOUN + porta busy portHong Kong is one of the world’s busiest ports.a major/important portThe city became a major port.a bustling port (=very busy)Until the 1870s, Port Albert was a bustling port.a fishing portThe town is Iceland's biggest fishing port.a container port (=for ships carrying large containers)Hamburg is one of Europe's main container ports.a ferry port (=for boats carrying people or goods across a narrow area of water)Dover is an important ferry port.verbsbe in portMany shops remain open on a Sunday, especially if cruise ships are in port.come into portWe stood on the quay and watched the ships come into port.leave portTwo fishing boats were preparing to leave port. THESAURUSport noun [countable, uncountable] a place where ships can be loaded and unloadeda busy portWe’ll have two days ashore while the ship is in port.The ferry was about to leave port.harbour British English, harbor American English noun [countable] an area of water next to the land which is protected by walls so the water is calm, and is a place where ships can stay when they are not sailingThey sailed into Portsmouth HarbourTourist boats leave the harbour at Riva regularly.the harbour walldock [countable, uncountable] a place in a port where ships are loaded, unloaded, or repairedA crowd was waiting at the dock to greet them.The ship was in dock for repairs.pier a structure that is built over and into the water so that boats can stop next to it or people can walk along itThe yacht was moored at a pier.jetty noun [countable] a wall or platform built out into the water, used for getting on and off boatsa wooden jettyThe house has a private jetty.mooring noun [countable] the place where a ship or boat is fastened to the land or to the bottom of the seaTugs towed the boat away from its mooring at White Bay.marina noun [countable] a harbour where people keep boats which are used for pleasureThey are building a new 220-berth marina.The apartments have a private marina.
Examples from the Corpus
port• Port Angeles, Washington• That, in turn, has required container ports to become deeper and deeper.• Housing is a natural first port of call.• A unique oval aft cockpit is dry and protected when sailing and is an excellent area for dining in port.• The Open Look port, however, took a year to complete.• the shipping port of New Bedford• The small port of Lorain, Ohio, handled nearly five times as much.• In 1989, the port held a hearing to consider whether to raze the Del Mar.• There was a further emigration attempt from the port of Durrës on Nov. 5.come into port/leave port• U.S.S. Kentucky is scheduled to come into port at noon.portport2 verb [transitive] to move software from one computer system to anotherport something from/to something Can Windows applications be ported to Unix? —porting noun [uncountable]→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
port• With the M16, that gas was ported straight into the bolt.• Solaris 1.1 and 2.1 will be ported to be embedded architecture along with real-time operating systems.• But it needs some encouragement to port to Unix and substitute it for the server, rather than OS/2.• Asterix has been ported to UnixWare, and will also announce full support for Hewlett-Packard's OpenMail at UniForum.From Longman Business Dictionaryportport1 /pɔːtpɔːrt/ noun1[countable, uncountable]TRANSPORT a place where ships can load and unload people or things, or a town or city that has one of these placesInspectors were holding up grain exports at Canadian ports.Port officials reported huge losses on port operations last year.The cargo can leave port immediately.the Jordanian port of Aqaba2[countable]COMPUTING a part of a computer where you can connect another piece of equipment such as a printerThe unit plugs into the printer port of your PC. → comm port → parallel port → serial portportport2 verb [transitive]COMPUTING to run software on another computer system without changing it in any wayport something to somethingCan Windows applications be ported to Unix?→ See Verb tableOrigin port 1. (800-900) Latin portus2. (1900-2000) port “ship's porthole” ((13-21 centuries)), from Old French porte “gate, door”, from Latin porta3. (1600-1700) Oporto, city in Portugal. 4. (1500-1600) port side, from → PORT1; because it was the side from which ships were unloaded. 