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porter
1[ pawr-ter, pohr- ]
/ ˈpɔr tər, ˈpoʊr- /
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noun
a person hired to carry burdens or baggage, as at a railroad station or a hotel.
a person who does cleaning and maintenance work in a building, factory, store, etc.
an attendant in a railroad parlor car or sleeping car.
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Which of the following nouns has an irregular plural form?
Words nearby porter
Port Elizabeth, portend, port engineer, portent, portentous, porter, porterage, porter chair, Porter, Cole, portered, porteress
Other definitions for porter (2 of 4)
porter2
[ pawr-ter, pohr- ]
/ ˈpɔr tər, ˈpoʊr- /
noun
a person who has charge of a door or gate; doorkeeper.
Roman Catholic Church. ostiary (def. 1).
Other definitions for porter (3 of 4)
porter3
[ pawr-ter, pohr- ]
/ ˈpɔr tər, ˈpoʊr- /
noun
a heavy, dark-brown ale made with malt browned by drying at a high temperature.
Origin of porter
3First recorded in 1720–30; short for porter's ale, apparently originally brewed for porters
Other definitions for porter (4 of 4)
Porter
[ pawr-ter, pohr- ]
/ ˈpɔr tər, ˈpoʊr- /
noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022
How to use porter in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for porter (1 of 4)
porter1
/ (ˈpɔːtə) /
noun
a person employed to carry luggage, parcels, supplies, etc, esp at a railway station or hotel
(in hospitals) a person employed to move patients from place to place
US and Canadian a railway employee who waits on passengers, esp in a sleeper
East African a manual labourer
Word Origin for porter
C14: from Old French portour, from Late Latin portātōr, from Latin portāre to carry
British Dictionary definitions for porter (2 of 4)
porter2
/ (ˈpɔːtə) /
noun
mainly British a person in charge of a gate or door; doorman or gatekeeper
a person employed by a university or college as a caretaker and doorkeeper who also answers enquiries
a person in charge of the maintenance of a building, esp a block of flats
Also called: ostiary RC Church a person ordained to what was formerly the lowest in rank of the minor orders
Word Origin for porter
C13: from Old French portier, from Late Latin portārius doorkeeper, from Latin porta door
British Dictionary definitions for porter (3 of 4)
porter3
/ (ˈpɔːtə) /
noun
British a dark sweet ale brewed from black malt
Word Origin for porter
C18: shortened from porter's ale, apparently because it was a favourite beverage of porters
British Dictionary definitions for porter (4 of 4)
Porter
/ (ˈpɔːtə) /
noun
Cole. 1893–1964, US composer and lyricist of musical comedies. His most popular songs include Night and Day and Let's do It
George, Baron Porter of Luddenham. 1920–2002, British chemist, who shared a Nobel prize for chemistry in 1967 for his work on flash photolysis
Katherine Anne. 1890–1980, US short-story writer and novelist. Her best-known collections of stories are Flowering Judas (1930) and Pale Horse, Pale Rider (1939)
Rodney Robert. 1917–85, British biochemist: shared the Nobel prize for physiology or medicine 1972 for determining the structure of an antibody
William Sidney. original name of O. Henry
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
Medical definitions for porter
Porter
[ pôr′tər ]
British biochemist. He shared a 1972 Nobel Prize for his research on the chemical structure and nature of antibodies.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Scientific definitions for porter
Porter
[ pôr′tər ]
British biochemist who shared with George Edelman the 1972 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine for their study of the chemical structure of antibodies.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.