porch

American  

[pawrch, pohrch] / pɔrtʃ, poʊrtʃ /

noun

1. an exterior appendage to a building, forming a covered approach or vestibule to a doorway.

2. a veranda.

3. the Porch, the portico or stoa in the agora of ancient Athens, where the Stoic philosopher Zeno of Citium and his followers met.

4. Obsolete. a portico.

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porch British  

/ pɔːtʃ /

noun

1. a low structure projecting from the doorway of a house and forming a covered entrance

2. an exterior roofed gallery, often partly enclosed; veranda

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Other Word Forms

• porchless adjective
• porchlike adjective
• underporch noun

Etymology

Origin of porch

1250–1300; Middle English porche < Old French < Latin porticus porch, portico

Example Sentences

Children play on porches with scraggly cats and sun-faded plastic toys.

From Literature

The crowd on the porch doesn’t look up when we walk past them into the enormous entry way.

From Literature

As Two had advised, he avoided the front door and followed the winding porch around back.

From Literature

“I always had a vision of walking down the porch steps, turning straight into the garden, and being able to walk to the wine terrace,” Smee says.

From Los Angeles Times

“We want them to finish this, so we can feel safe,” said Natasha Amir, 57, whose front porch on the edge of the kibbutz overlooks the border.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• balcony
• deck
• portico
• stoop
• veranda