<B>portable, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>capable of being carried or moved; easily carried. <BR> <I>Ex. A portable typewriter can be moved from place to place.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>having to do with or designating a pension plan under which a worker's contributions and privileges are carried over from one job or employer to another. <BR> <I>Ex. a portable pension plan or legislation.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Obsolete.) that can be borne or tolerated; bearable. <BR> <I>Ex. How light and portable my pain seems now! (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> something designed to be carried or readily moved, such as a typewriter or radio. <BR> <I>Ex. My sister's TV is a portable.</I> noun <B>portableness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="portacaval">
<B>portacaval, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Anatomy.) having to do with the portal vein and the vena cava. </DL>
<A NAME="portage">
<B>portage, </B>noun, verb, <B>-taged,</B> <B>-taging.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the action or work of carrying boats, provisions, or goods overland from one river or lake to another or around a falls, rapids, or shallow water. <BR> <I>Ex. The portage of canoes from one lake to the other took two days of tugging and carrying.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the place over which this is done. <BR> <I>Ex. As we were carrying the canoe upon a rocky portage, she fell, and was entirely bilged (Robert Louis Stevenson).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>the action or work of carrying anything. <DD><B> 4. </B>the cost of carrying; freight charges; porterage. <DD><B> 5. </B>(formerly) <DD><B> a. </B>the part of a ship's cargo that was set aside as all or part of a seaman's wages. <DD><B> b. </B>the space set aside for such cargo. <DD><B> c. </B>the tonnage of a vessel. <DD><I>v.t., v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to carry (boats, provisions, or goods) overland between navigable waters. <DD><B> 2. </B>to make a portage over (a place) or around (rapids, a cataract, or shallow water). </DL>
<A NAME="portal">
<B>portal</B> (1), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a door, gate, or entrance, usually an imposing one, such as one in a cathedral. </DL>
<A NAME="portal">
<B>portal</B> (2), adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>of or having to do with the transverse fissure of the liver, through which the blood vessels enter. <DD><B> 2. </B>of or having to do with the portal vein. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>=portal vein.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="portalcirculation">
<B>portal circulation,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the part of the systemic circulation that carries blood from the stomach, pancreas, small intestine, and spleen to the liver. </DL>
<A NAME="portaltoportalpay">
<B>portal-to-portal pay,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> wages paid to an employee for the time he spends going to, and coming from, his actual place of work after having arrived on the grounds of the employer. </DL>
<A NAME="portalvein">
<B>portal vein,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the large vein which carries blood from the small intestine, stomach, pancreas, and spleen to the liver. </DL>
<A NAME="portamento">
<B>portamento, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ti.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Music.) a gliding continuously without break from one pitch or tone to another, as in singing or in playing a stringed instrument. </DL>
<B>portapack, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a portable video camera and sound recorder; camcorder. <BR> <I>Ex. In the late 1960's, when video portapacks became widely available, she was ... one of the first to appreciate the artistic possibilities of the new technology (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="portarms">
<B>port arms,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the command to bring or hold a rifle or other weapon in front of and diagonally across the body with the barrel up, while standing at attention. <DD><B> 2. </B>the position in which a weapon is thus held. </DL>
<A NAME="portative">
<B>portative, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>easily carried; portable. <DD><B> 2. </B>of, or having the power or function of, carrying. </DL>
<A NAME="portauthority">
<B>port authority,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a commission appointed to manage a port. </DL>
<A NAME="portcrayon">
<B>portcrayon, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a holder or handle for a drawing crayon. </DL>
<A NAME="portcullis">
<B>portcullis, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a strong gate or grating of iron that can be raised or lowered, used to close or open the gateway of an ancient castle or fortress. <BR> <I>Ex. Up drawbridge, grooms--what, Warder, ho! Let the portcullis fall! (Scott).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="portdebras">
<B>port de bras, </B>pl. <B>ports de bras.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) <DD><B> 1. </B>the technique of moving the arms in ballet. <DD><B> 2. </B>an exercise or figure through which this technique is developed or displayed. </DL>
<A NAME="portdusalut">
<B>Port du Salut,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a cheese with a hard rind and a soft interior that tastes much like Swiss cheese. Also, <B>Port Salut.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="porte">
<B>Porte, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the Turkish government before 1923. </DL>
<A NAME="portecochere">
<B>porte-cochere, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a porch at the door of a building under which carriages and automobiles stop so that persons getting in or out are sheltered. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Archaic.) an entrance for carriages, leading into a courtyard. </DL>
<A NAME="portemonnaie">
<B>porte-monnaie, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a purse; pocketbook. </DL>
<A NAME="portend">
<B>portend, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to indicate beforehand; give warning of; be a portent of. <BR> <I>Ex. Black clouds portend a storm.</I> (SYN) foreshadow, betoken, forebode. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Obsolete.) to mean. </DL>
<A NAME="porteno">
<B>porteno, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a native or resident of Buenos Aires, Argentina. </DL>
<A NAME="portent">
<B>portent, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a warning, usually of coming evil; sign; omen. <BR> <I>Ex. The black clouds were a portent of bad weather.</I> (SYN) token, presage. <DD><B> 2. </B>the fact or quality of portending; ominous significance. <BR> <I>Ex. an occurrence of dire portent.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a prodigy; wonder; marvel. <BR> <I>Ex. There have been great captains ... But Frederic was not one of those brilliant portents (Macaulay).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="portentous">
<B>portentous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>indicating evil to come; ominous; threatening. <BR> <I>Ex. direful omens and portentous sights and sounds in the air (Washington Irving).</I> (SYN) foreboding, warning. <DD><B> 2. </B>amazing; extraordinary. <BR> <I>Ex. The cause of that celestial anger--the gay, portentous Palmerston (Lytton Strachey).</I> (SYN) wonderful, marvelous. adv. <B>portentously.</B> noun <B>portentousness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="porter">
<B>porter</B> (1), noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a man employed to carry loads or baggage, especially at a hotel, railroad station, or airport. <BR> <I>Ex. Give your bags to the porter.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(U.S.) an attendant in a parlor car or sleeping car of a railway train. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to carry as a porter. <BR> <I>Ex. Enough drink had been portered on the big trays to inflame an army (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="porter">
<B>porter</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person who guards a door or entrance; doorman. <BR> <I>Ex. The porter let them in.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=janitor.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="porter">
<B>porter</B> (3), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a heavy, dark-brown beer. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Obsolete.) a mixture of light beer, or ale, and stout, resembling this in flavor and color. </DL>
<A NAME="porterage">
<B>porterage, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act or work of a porter. <DD><B> 2. </B>the charge for this. </DL>
<A NAME="porteress">
<B>porteress, </B>noun. <B>=portress.</B></DL>
<A NAME="porterhouse">
<B>porterhouse, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a choice beefsteak cut from the thick end of the short loin and containing the tenderloin. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Archaic.) <DD><B> a. </B>an establishment at which porter and other malt liquors are sold. <DD><B> b. </B>a chophouse. </DL>
<B>portfolio, </B>noun, pl. <B>-lios.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a portable case, as for loose papers or drawings; briefcase. <BR> <I>Ex. adding to the many notes and tentative essays which had already accumulated in his portfolios (Samuel Butler).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) the position and duties of a cabinet member, diplomat, or minister of state. <BR> <I>Ex. The Foreign Minister resigned his portfolio.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) holdings in the form of stocks, bonds, or other securities. <BR> <I>Ex. investment portfolios.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="porthole">
<B>porthole, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>an opening in the side of a ship to let in light and air. <DD><B> 2. </B>an opening in a fort, pillbox, side of a tank, ship, or wall, through which to shoot. <DD><B> 3. </B>a port or opening for passage, as of steam or air. </DL>
<A NAME="portia">
<B>Portia, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>heroine of Shakespeare's <I>Merchant of Venice,</I> who disguises herself and acts as a lawyer. <DD><B> 2. </B>a woman lawyer. </DL>
<A NAME="portico">
<B>portico, </B>noun, pl. <B>-coes</B> or <B>-cos.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a roof supported by columns, forming a porch or a covered walk. </DL>
<A NAME="porticoed">
<B>porticoed, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having a portico or porticoes. </DL>
<A NAME="portiere">
<B>portiere, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a curtain hung across a doorway. </DL>
