portage

[ pawr-tij, pohr-, or for 2, 3, 5, 6, pawr-tahzh ]

/ ˈpɔr tɪdʒ, ˈpoʊr-, or for 2, 3, 5, 6, pɔrˈtɑʒ /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR portage ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the act of carrying; carriage.

the carrying of boats, goods, etc., overland from one navigable water to another.

the route over which this is done.

the cost of carriage.

verb (used without object), por·taged, por·tag·ing.

to make a portage: On this stretch of the river, we have to portage for a mile.

verb (used with object), por·taged, por·tag·ing.

to carry (something) over a portage; make a portage with: We portaged our canoe around the rapids.

Nearby words

portability, portable, portacaval, portacaval shunt, portadown, portage, portage la prairie, portakabin, portal, portal canal, portal circulation

Origin of portage

1375–1425; late Middle English < Middle French; see port⁵, -age

Definition for portage (2 of 2)

Portage

[ pawr-tij, pohr- ]

/ ˈpɔr tɪdʒ, ˈpoʊr- /

noun

a city in SW Michigan.

a town in NW Indiana.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for portage

This portage lies over an open pine ridge, from which the timber has been chiefly burned.
Personal Memoirs Of A Residence Of Thirty Years With The Indian Tribes On The American Frontiers|Henry Rowe Schoolcraft
Fort Winnebago is a military post, at the bend, and on the right bank of Fox river, opposite the portage.
A New Guide for Emigrants to the West|J. M. Peck
Thus they "packed" the goods over the portage, their heads sustaining the loads, and their backs merely steadying them.
On Canada's Frontier|Julian Ralph
We come to one with a drop of sixteen feet, around which we make a portage, and then stop for dinner.
Canyons of the Colorado|J. W. Powell

They reached the portage of the Great Falls without difficulty, and eagerly examined the caches which they had left there.
The Magnificent Adventure|Emerson Hough

British Dictionary definitions for portage

portage

/ (ˈpɔːtɪdʒ, French pɔrtaʒ) /

noun

the act of carrying; transport

the cost of carrying or transporting

the act or process of transporting boats, supplies, etc, overland between navigable waterways

the route overland used for such transport

verb

to transport (boats, supplies, etc) overland between navigable waterways

Word Origin for portage

C15: from French, from Old French porter to carry

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012