<B>portraitist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who paints portraits. </DL>
<A NAME="portraiture">
<B>portraiture, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act of portraying. <BR> <I>Ex. the portraitures of insignificant people by ordinary painters (Sir Richard Steele).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a portrait or portraits. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) a picture in words. </DL>
<A NAME="portray">
<B>portray, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to make a likeness of in a drawing or painting; make a picture of. <BR> <I>Ex. to portray a historical scene.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) to picture in words; describe. <BR> <I>Ex. The book "Black Beauty" portrays the life of a horse.</I> (SYN) depict. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) to represent in a play or motion picture; impersonate; act. noun <B>portrayer.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="portrayable">
<B>portrayable, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> that can be portrayed. </DL>
<A NAME="portrayal">
<B>portrayal, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a portraying by drawing or in words. <DD><B> 2. </B>a picture or description. <DD><B> 3. </B>the acting of a role in a play. </DL>
<A NAME="portress">
<B>portress, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a female porter; woman who acts as a porter. </DL>
<A NAME="portsalut">
Port Salut, =Port du Salut.</DL>
<A NAME="portside">
<B>portside</B> (1), noun, adjective, adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> the left side of a ship when facing the bow; port. <BR> <I>Ex. [The] motor whaleboat approached the trawler's starboard quarter, was waved to the portside where a ladder was lowered (Time).</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> on the left side; port. <BR> <I>Ex. The manager took out his next batter, replaced him with a portside swinger as a pinch hitter.</I> <DD><I>adv. </I> to or toward the left side. <BR> <I>Ex. The S.S. Champlain slid through morning mist, and, portside, Staten Island dimly floated past (Atlantic).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="portside">
<B>portside</B> (2), noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> the waterfront of a port. <DD><I>adj. </I> waterfront. <BR> <I>Ex. portside docks.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="portsider">
<B>portsider, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Slang.) a left-handed person, especially a baseball pitcher. </DL>
<A NAME="portuguese">
<B>Portuguese, </B>noun, pl. <B>-guese,</B> adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a person born or living in Portugal. <DD><B> 2. </B>the Romance language of Portugal. Portuguese is also the chief language of Brazil. <DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with Portugal, its people, or their language. </DL>
<A NAME="portuguesecabbage">
<B>Portuguese cabbage,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a plant related to the cabbage, having thick, broad, edible leaves like those of the cabbage, originally cultivated by the Portuguese of Bermuda. </DL>
<A NAME="portuguesemanofwar">
<B>Portuguese man-of-war,</B> pl. <B>Portuguese men-of-war.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a large marine hydrozoan, having a large air sac that acts as a float, and many long thin tentacles. It is noted for brilliant coloring and great power of stinging. </DL>
<A NAME="portulaca">
<B>portulaca, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a low-growing plant with thick, fleshy leaves. It is an herb of the purslane family. <DD><B> 2. </B>its dainty white, yellow, red, or purple flower. </DL>
<A NAME="portulacaceous">
<B>portulacaceous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> belonging to the purslane family of plants. </DL>
<A NAME="portwide">
<B>portwide, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with an entire port. <BR> <I>Ex. The threat of a portwide strike by longshoremen receded yesterday (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="portwinemark">
<B>port-wine mark,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a deep-purple or dark-red birthmark composed of capillaries, usually on the face. </DL>
<B>posada, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>an inn. <DD><B> 2. </B>a religious ceremony held in many Mexican homes on the nine nights before Christmas. </DL>
<A NAME="pose">
<B>pose</B> (1), noun, verb, <B>posed,</B> <B>posing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a position of the body; way of holding the body. <BR> <I>Ex. a natural pose, a pose taken in exercising. She too got up ... Her pose had a kind of defiance in it (Mrs. Humphry Ward).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) an attitude assumed for effect; pretense; affectation. <BR> <I>Ex. She takes the pose of being an invalid when really she is well and strong. Her interest in others is real, not just a pose.</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to hold a position. <BR> <I>Ex. He posed an hour for his portrait.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) to take a false position or attitude for effect; make a false pretense. <BR> <I>Ex. He posed as a rich man though he owed more than he owned.</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to put in a certain position; put. <BR> <I>Ex. The photographer posed the family before taking the picture.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to put forward for discussion; state. <BR> <I>Ex. to pose a question.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="pose">
<B>pose</B> (2), transitive verb, <B>posed,</B> <B>posing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to puzzle completely; perplex; nonplus. <BR> <I>Ex. Kolory himself would be effectually posed were he called upon to draw up the articles of his faith (Herman Melville).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Obsolete.) to examine by questioning; interrogate. </DL>
<A NAME="poseidon">
<B>Poseidon, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Greek Mythology.) the god of the sea and of horses, son of Cronus and Rhea. The Romans called him Neptune. His weapon and attribute is the trident. </DL>
<A NAME="poser">
<B>poser</B> (1), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who poses, especially a poseur. </DL>
<A NAME="poser">
<B>poser</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a very puzzling problem or question. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Archaic.) a person who examines by questions. </DL>
<A NAME="poseur">
<B>poseur, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an affected person; one who poses to impress others. <BR> <I>Ex. I was ... a little of a prig and poseur in those days (H. G. Wells).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="poseuse">
<B>poseuse, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a woman poseur. </DL>
<A NAME="posh">
<B>posh, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) elegant or fine in appearance; stylish; luxurious. <BR> <I>Ex. posh restaurants.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="posied">
<B>posied, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>furnished with posies or nosegays. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Archaic.) inscribed with a posy or motto. <BR> <I>Ex. Many a ring of posied gold (Shakespeare).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="posigrade">
<B>posigrade, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Aerospace.) <DD><B> 1. </B>having positive acceleration; going or thrusting forward. <BR> <I>Ex. posigrade motion, posigrade rockets.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>of or from a posigrade rocket. <BR> <I>Ex. a posigrade maneuver.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="posit">
<B>posit, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to lay down or assume as a fact or principle; affirm the existence of; postulate. <DD><B> 2. </B>to place, put, or set. </DL>
<A NAME="position">
<B>position, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the place where a thing or person is; place with respect to another place. <BR> <I>Ex. The flowers grew in a sheltered position behind the house.</I> (SYN) situation, site, location. <DD><B> 2. </B>a way of being placed. <BR> <I>Ex. Put the baby in a comfortable position.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>the proper place. <BR> <I>Ex. Each soldier got into position to defend the fort.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>a condition with reference to place or circumstances. <BR> <I>Ex. He maneuvered for position before shooting the basketball. (Figurative.) Your careless remark put me in an awkward position.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Figurative.) a job. <BR> <I>Ex. He lost his position because he was not honest.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>(Figurative.) standing, especially high standing; rank. <BR> <I>Ex. He was raised to the position of captain in the navy.</I> (SYN) status. <DD><B> 7. </B>(Figurative.) a way of thinking; set of opinions. <BR> <I>Ex. What is your position on this question?</I> <DD><B> 8. </B>(Greek and Latin Prosody.) the situation of a short vowel before two or more consonants or their equivalent, making the syllable metrically long. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to place in a certain position; place. <BR> <I>Ex. The photographer positioned us so that the tall students stood behind the shorter ones. By adjusting the controls, the nails are fed out of slotted storage banks and positioned as desired (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to determine the position of; locate. <DD><B> 3. </B>to market or advertise (a product) by appealing to a particular type of consumer or specific segment of the public. <BR> <I>Ex. The main difficulty manufacturers have in positioning a new product is [that] they want everybody to love their product (Jack Springer).</I> </DL>
