port of call
Americannoun
noun
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any port where a ship stops, excluding its home port
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any place visited on a traveller's itinerary
Etymology
Origin of port of call
First recorded in 1880–85
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Navy warning vessels trying to run the blockade and exit the Persian Gulf to return to their last port of call.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
India has historically been the traditional port of call for newly-elected South Asian leaders.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
Its final port of call before reaching Acapulco was Colima.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
The rerouting around Africa adds time and cost, as the trip is 10 to 15 days longer than through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, depending on the final port of call in Europe.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 13, 2026
Navy never realized that the Indianapolis was overdue at its next port of call and never sent a rescue party to the disaster site.
From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
