portern.1
/ˈpɔːtə/, U.S. /ˈpɔrdər/ 1. † c. A watchdog; spec. Cerberus, the dog which, according to Greek and Roman mythology, guarded the entrance to Hades. Obsolete.† d. A rabbit. Obsolete. rare.
a. A gatekeeper, esp. at the entrance of a fortified town or castle; a doorkeeper; (now) esp. an employee in charge of the entrance of a hotel, block of flats, college, or other large building.Now not always distinguishable from porter n.2 1a.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > service > servant > personal or domestic servant > domestic servant > [noun] > usher > door- or gate-keeper
doorwardc950
gate-wardc1000
porter?a1300
ostiary?a1475
portitor1480
doorkeeper1535
gatekeeper1572
janitora1640
conciergea1697
hall-keeper1705
durwan1773
commissioner1820
lodge-keeper1855
doorman1858
lodge-man1892
commissionaire1895
dvornik1903
linkman1939
?a1300 Iacob & Iosep (Bodl.) (1916) 369 (MED) He brouȝtem to þe castel..& spac wiþ þe porter, in þat he hem let.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) John x. 3 To this the porter [L. ostiarius] openeth, and the scheep heeren his vois.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 10013 At ȝates four er four porters [v.rr. porteris, porteres] Þat nathing mai cum in þat ders.
1433 Rolls of Parl. IV. 475/2 By the hondis of his Portour of the said Castell.
c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 35 Þei schal be in my sanctuari huschers & portars.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 257/1 Porter, a kepar of a gate, portier.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene vi. iii. 38 The rude Porter that no manners had Did shut the gate against him in his face. View more context for this quotation
?1608 J. Donne Lett. (1651) 32 Like a porter in a great house, ever nearest the door, but seldomest abroad.
1678 J. Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress 50 He..went on, till he came and stood before the Gate where the Porter was. View more context for this quotation
a1721 M. Prior Wandering Pilgrim in Misc. Wks. (1740) II. 46 Let him in thy hall but stand, And wear a porter's gown.
1786 ‘P. Pindar’ Poet. Epist. to Boswell (ed. 3) 17 What, tho' against thee Porters bounce the door.
1818 M. W. Shelley Frankenstein I. iv. 102 The porter opened the gates of the court, which had that night been my asylum.
1885 J. Morley Pattison's Mem. in Crit. Misc. III. 151 Accomplishments..more fitted for the porter of a workhouse than for the head of a college.
1939 C. Isherwood Goodbye to Berlin 243 A porter showed me into a small waiting-room.
1989 L. Underwood One's Company (BNC) 29 At a price, there are some elegant blocks of flats that have a full-time porter on the front door.
2004 Daily Miner & News (Kenora, Ont.) (Nexis) 31 May 12 Anti-terrorism training began this week for 28,000 doormen, superintendents and porters in 3,500 apartment buildings around the city.
b. poetic. figurative and in figurative context. Now rare.
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c1380 G. Chaucer Second Nun's Tale 3 Ydelnesse..porter [v.r. poter] of the gate is of delices.
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xx. 296 (MED) Conscience..made pees porter [c1400 C text portor] to pynne þe ȝates.
c1460 (a1449) J. Lydgate Fabula Duorum Mercatorum (Harl.) 62 in Minor Poems (1934) ii. 488 (MED) Love berith the keye and also the cliket, As trewe porteer, that they mot needys dwelle..withyne myndys selle.
a1500 (?a1425) tr. Secreta Secret. (Lamb.) 97 Þes v. portours byfore-sayd er þe v. wyttes, þat dwellys yn þe eighen, yn þe eryn, yn þe nese, yn þe tonge, and yn þe hondes.
c1500 (?a1437) Kingis Quair (1939) cxxv (MED) I fand..at the yate, The maister portare, callit Pacience.
1607 M. Drayton Legend Cromwel 35 Peace the good porter,..praies him God to saue, And after saluing kindly doth demaund What was his will.
1610 T. Collins in E. Farr Sel. Poetry Reign James I (1848) 357 Mercy's the porter of heauen's pretious dores.
1614 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 531 Two mightie Colosses or statues of Lions, were set as porters at the doore.
1668 Bp. E. Hopkins Serm. Vanity (1685) 72 God hath set that grim porter, Death, at the gate.
1758 J. Reed Madrigal & Trulletta Epil. 63 Then send not death, your ghastly porter, To cut that little span yet shorter.
1826 M. W. Shelley Last Man I. viii. 282 Famine was welcomed as the kind porter to the gates of death.
1848 J. Haskins Poet. Wks. i. lvi. 44 The gloomy gates—Whose mysteries of terror have no name—Where Death, with massive keys, (grim porter!) waits.
a1907 F. Thompson Wks. (1913) 131 Therefore my spirit clings Heaven's porter by the wings, And holds Its gated golds Apart.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > dogs used for specific purposes > [noun] > guard dog
porter?a1425
wap1464
dog keeper1576
mooner1576
warner1576
house dog1577
mâtin1579
defender1607
housekeeper1607
watchdoga1616
moondog1668
yard-dog1795
guard dog1796
big dog1833
tenter1844
junkyard dog1936
prowl dog1974
the world > action or operation > safety > protection or defence > watching or keeping guard > [noun] > one who watches or keeps guard > watch-dog or guard dog
tie-dogc1290
porter?a1425
bandogc1425
house dog1577
mâtin1579
housekeeper1607
watchdoga1616
watch-mastiff1778
yard-dog1795
guard dog1796
big dog1833
prowl dog1974
?a1425 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. iii. met. xii. 35 Cerberus, the porter of helle, with his thre hevedes, was caught and al abasschid of the newe song.
a1450 (?c1421) J. Lydgate Siege Thebes (Arun.) (1911) 854 (MED) At this weddyng..was Cerberus, Chief porter of helle.
c1500 (?a1475) Assembly of Gods (1896) 37 Cerberus, the porter of hell, with hys cheyne.
a1505 R. Henryson Orpheus & Eurydice 251 in Poems (1981) 140 Thare he fand a portar fell, With thre hedis, was callit Cerberus.
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Somerset 18 [Mastiffs] are not (like Apes) the fooles and jesters, but the useful Servants in a Family, viz. the Porters thereof.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones V. xiii. ii. 12 I have often thought, that by the particular Description of Cerberus the Porter of Hell, in the 6th Æneid, Virgil might possibly intend to satyrize the Porters of the great Men in his Time. View more context for this quotation
1813 T. Morton Education 55 The porter (Cerberus) took his sop kindly enough.
ΚΠ
1846 Peter Parley's Ann. 325 Gamekeepers give various names to rabbits: with them they are warreners, porters, sweethearts, and hedgehogs... The porter's favourite haunt is in gentlemen's pleasure grounds.
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the world > life > the body > digestive or excretive organs > digestive organs > stomach or belly > [noun] > orifices of
pylorus1565
porter1594
cardia1632
1594 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. II. 349 It beginneth at the porter [Fr. portier] of the stomach, and is so seated beside the liuer.
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 119 It is called πυλωρός or the Porter, commonly the neather orifice.
Compounds
porter's chair n. a chair with an arched hood, originally placed in a hallway for a porter or doorkeeper to sit in.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > seat > chair > [noun] > armchair > other armchairs
great chair1749
porter's chair1806
sleepy-hollow chair1820
roundabout1834
Glastonbury chair1853
frowst1905
club chair1919
carver1927
1806 Times 30 July 4/2 (advt.) Capital Furniture, curious Marble Tables, large Floor-cloths, Porter's Chair, Sedan Chair, &c.
1939 A. Christie Ten Little Niggers viii. 109 On the main terrace, Mr. Justice Wargrave sat huddled in a porter's chair.
1989 A. Aird 1990 Good Pub Guide 229 Flagstone-floored burrows and alcoves, richly fitted out with red plush seats discreetly cut into the higgledy-piggledy walls, elaborately carved pews, a leather porter's chair.
porter's lodge n. (also porter-lodge, chiefly Scottish) a lodge for the porter at the gate of a castle, college, park, etc., formerly used as a place of punishment for servants and dependants.
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society > authority > punishment > corporal punishment > instrument or place of corporal punishment > [noun] > building used for
porter's lodge1471
whipping-house1852
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > a dwelling > a house > types of house > [noun] > house in specific situation > lodgehouse or gatehouse
gatehousec1380
porter's lodge1471
lodge1504
gate-room1702
gate-lodge1922
1471–2 in J. T. Fowler Extracts Acct. Rolls Abbey of Durham (1901) III. 644 Factura muri infra le Porterloge.
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 231 Strangenes, quhair that he did ly, Wes brint in to the porter luge.
?1544 J. Bale Epist. Exhortatorye f. xiiiv Whye Whynchestre hynge Thomas Sarye a man lerned, in his porters lodge at the Stewes, the cause is not yet knowen.
1623 P. Massinger Duke of Millaine iii. ii. sig. G3v Fit companie, only for Pages and for foot boyes, That haue perused the Porters Lodge.
1738 J. Breval Remarks Several Parts Europe: Tours since 1723 I. 60 Some little adjoining Habitation, that has rather the Air of a Porter's Lodge, than of a Nobleman's Palace.
1819 Times 30 Aug. 2/3 The keys..were on Saturday stolen from the porter's lodge.
1899 S. R. Crockett Kit Kennedy 106 Gang doon to the porter-lodge, and wait till I come till ye.
1992 P. C. Doherty Prince of Darkness (BNC) 93 Corbett smiled and they went across to the porter's lodge near the main gate.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > vascular system > blood vessel > vein > [noun] > specific vein
middle veina1398
portaa1398
saphena1398
funisa1400
sciaticaa1400
guidesc1400
haemorrhoidc1400
salvatellac1400
liver veina1425
median?a1425
mesaraic?a1425
sciatic?a1425
venal artery?a1425
sciat1503
organal vein1523
axillar?1541
weeping vein1543
port-vein1586
lip-vein1598
nose vein1598
sciatic vein1598
cephalic vein1599
hollow vein1605
jugular1615
scapulary1615
subclavian vein1615
umbilical vessel1615
basilica1625
porter-vein1625
neck vein1639
garter-vein1656
matricious vein1656
sacred vein1656
subclavicular1656
subclavial1664
vertebral1718
portal vein1765
cava1809
satellite vein1809
brachial1859
innominate vein1866
precaval1866
postcava1882
precava1882
postcaval1891
Vesalian vein1891
sciatic1892
subcardinal1902
1625 J. Hart Anat. Urines ii. viii. 105 But what if such creatures were conueyed..through the mesaraicke veines into the great porter veine?
1683 A. Snape Anat. Horse i. ix. 17 A small Vein..called pylorica or Porter-vein.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
portern.2
/ˈpɔːtə/, U.S. /ˈpɔrdər/ 1. † c. An officer who walked before the justices of a court, carrying a rod as a symbol of authority. Obsolete.
a. A person employed to carry luggage, goods, etc.; (now) esp. a person employed to carry or convey luggage at a station, an airport, or a hotel.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > rail travel > railway worker > [noun] > porter
portera1382
railway porter1839
baggage-smasher1851
transfer porter1921
the world > movement > transference > [noun] > conveying or transporting > action of carrying > one who carries
bearereOE
portera1382
carriera1398
beringa1500
portator?c1500
Christopher?1548
manuporter1688
toter1817
humper1961
society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance by carrying > [noun] > by a person > person who
bearereOE
portera1382
carriera1398
load-man1487
coal-heaver1654
light porter1772
toter1817
packer1871
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > other manual or industrial workers > [noun] > porter
bearereOE
bermanc1000
portera1382
carriera1460
crocheteur1579
off-bearer1856
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) 1 Paralip. xvi. 42 Þe sones, forsoþe, of yditym he made to ben porteeris [v.r. porters; a1425 L.V. portours, ether bereris; L. portarios].
c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. vii. 370 (MED) Thenne goþ gloton yn, and..Sauwe þe dykere with a dosen harlotes Of portours and of pykeporeses.
1469 in J. T. Gilbert Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889) I. 336 If any of the portoures goo owt with cariage into the contry.
1483 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 89074) (1881) 287 A Portoure, baiulus, portator.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 257/1 Porter of burdens, crochetevr.
1592 in J. Harland House & Farm Accts. Shuttleworths (1856) I. 74 Houpinge and spannynge of the vesseles, xijd; the porteres for loding the same wyne, vjd.
1650 J. Bulwer Anthropometamorphosis 114 I saw a Porter..drink up a Flagon of Beer.
1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 196 About an hundred Pounds weight, viz. a Porters Burthen.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 94. ¶8 He was..forced to think of plying in the Streets as a Porter.
1796 H. Wansey Jrnl. Excursion to U.S. 39 We enquired for a porter, to fetch our luggage from the ship to the town, and a free negroe offered himself, for which service he required half a dollar.
1843 J. D. Forbes Trav. Alps of Savoy xii. 229 De Saussure and his son arrived..accompanied by a number of guides and porters, who carried two tents, and the utensils required for a long residence.
1878 F. S. Williams Midland Railway (ed. 4) 621 Porters for the passenger department are not accepted if they are less than 5 ft. 8 in. high.
1923 National Geographic Mag. Apr. 401/2 A telautograph..duplicates the information to the bulletin-board..advising the 200 or more porters, baggagemen, and others on what track and at what minute the train will stop.
1945 A. L. Rowse West-Country Stories 148 They were having a tremendous bust-up with the railway porters about their belongings.
2003 Hartford (Connecticut) Courant (Nexis) 30 Nov. f5 Give $1 a bag to hotel porters and airport attendants.
b. figurative and in extended use. A person who or thing which carries or conveys something. Now rare.In quot. 1581, the sense may be related to or influenced by porter n.1 1a.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > [noun] > one who transports or conveys
conveyor1513
transporter1535
porter1581
malem1609
conveyancer1791
1581 J. Marbeck Bk. Notes & Common Places 700 There is no need of porter, of a mediatour or minister, say onely, Lord haue mercie vpon me.
1634 Bp. J. Hall Contempl. Hist. New Test. (STC 12640.5) 266 Simon of Cyrene is forced to be the porter of thy Crosse.
1659 T. Pecke Parnassi Puerperium 67 The Grecian Tongue, Porter of Wit, and Art.
1685 R. Codrington Proverbs 113 In our childhood we were fools, in our Manhood we are Servants to care, and in our old Age we are but Porters to disease.
1817 Sporting Mag. 50 231 It enables him [sc. the spaniel] to be a good roader, as it is styled in the south; in the north it is termed a good porter.
1896 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. I. 868 Ships..are not such good porters of cholera as caravans, armies, hordes of pilgrims and unsanitary travellers.
2001 Fortune (Nexis) 12 Nov. 126 As the porter of a community's emotional baggage, a leader carries a double burden.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > one who administers justice > an officer of the court > [noun] > attendant on judge or magistrate
lictorc1384
porter1607
javelin-man1705
judge's marshal1830
javelin1849
javelineer1879
1607 J. Cowell Interpreter sig. Ccc3/2 Porter in the circuit of Iustices, is an officer that carieth a verge or white rodde before the Iustices in Eyre, so called, a portando virgam, anno. 13 Ed. i, cap. 24.
1772 Jacob's Law Dict. (ed. 9) There is also a porter bearing a verge before the justices of either bench.
d. North American. An attendant on a train, esp. in a sleeping car.
ΚΠ
1867 Piqua (Ohio) Democrat 25 June 1/6 There was quite a smash up of cars, but no one was fatally injured, except the porter of the sleeping car.
1910 E. Ferber in Everybody's Mag. Nov. 602 In the train coming up from Chicago, Mrs. Judge Porterfield had worn the negro porter's coat over her chilly shoulders in mistake for her husband's.
1935 N.Y. Times 7 July iv. 11/8 Porters must go through a three or four week training period before they are put in charge of a Pullman car.
2003 World & I (Electronic ed.) July 162 I watched, entranced, as the porter transformed our brightly lit open coach into a dim, green-curtained sleeping car.
e. More fully hospital porter. A hospital employee who moves equipment or patients.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > healer > non-medical worker > [noun] > hospital attendant
wardsman1896
porter1907
whitecoat1911
sanitar1916
ward orderly1946
ward aide1965
1907 J. Conrad Secret Agent v. 122 The hospital porter and another man turned down the corners of the cloth, and stepped aside.
a1948 D. Welch Voice through Cloud (1950) iv. 39 When the porters..started to wheel him out of the ward, he sat up on the trolley, so that the red blankets fell off him.
1964 D. Francis Nerve vi. 64 The nurse came back with a stretcher trolley and two khaki-overalled porters... We waited outside in the hall, and saw them trundle Pip off towards the open lift.
1996 Independent 19 Mar. 14/7 Ideally I would suggest they [sc. surplus NHS executives] work out their contracts as hospital porters—a post from which they will see the realities of the NHS with new eyes.
a. A lever. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > lever or crowbar > [noun]
lever1297
speke1366
crowa1400
gavelock1497
prisea1500
handspoke1513
porter1538
sway1545
handspike1559
heaver1598
coleweigh1600
handspeek1644
forcer1649
ringer1650
ripping-chisel1659
pinch1685
crow-spike1692
Betty1700
wringer1703
crowbar1748
spike1771
pry1803
jemmy1811
crow-iron1817
dog1825
pinchbar1837
jimmy1848
stick1848
pry bar1872
peiser1873
nail bar1929
cane1930
1538 T. Elyot Dict. (at cited word) Palange, leauers or porters, wherewith they left and beare tymbre, and suche like thynges of greatte weight. Palango..,to beare on leyuars or porters.
1553 J. Withals Shorte Dict. f. 34/1 A leauer or porter, to lyft timber or other thynges with, palanga.
1652 tr. A. ben David ibn Daud Wonderful & Most Deplorable Hist. Jews vi. 155 Then a great multitude of men take hold of the hinder part thereof, by four porters or levers of wood that are put therein, and with all their strength shove forward the Ram.
b. A supporting structure of timber or stone. Cf. bearer n. 12. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > support > [noun] > that which supports
staffc1000
hold1042
source1359
legc1380
shorer1393
stabilimenta1398
upholder1398
sustentationa1400
undersetterc1400
bearinga1425
undersettinga1425
suppowellc1430
triclinec1440
sustentaclec1451
supportera1475
sustainerc1475
sustenal1483
stayc1515
buttress1535
underpinning1538
firmament1554
countenance1565
support1570
appuia1573
comfort1577
hypostasis1577
underpropping1586
porter1591
supportation1593
supportance1597
understaya1603
bearer1607
rest1609
upsetter1628
mountinga1630
sustent1664
underlay1683
holdfast1706
abutment1727
suppeditor1728
mount1739
monture1746
bed1793
appoggiatura1833
bracing1849
bench1850
under-pinner1859
bolster-piece1860
sustainer1873
table mount1923
1591 T. Lodge Diogenes (Hunterian Club) 19 He..swore that he would ouerthrowe the porters and bearers, which he practising to doo, the timber fell sodainly in the midst of his sawing.
1828 B. M. Payne Brit. Patent 5686 (1857) 2 The new..stillyards..have also for supporting the lever tail a pillar porter, standing on the ground or fixed to the ceiling joist.
c. Founding. = porter bar n.1 (now rare).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > metalworking equipment > [noun] > forging equipment > other forging equipment
fuller1587
burras-pipe1676
anvil1678
washer1678
porter1794
porter rod1839
top-tool1877
turn-bat1881
porter bar1887
1794 D. Steel Elements & Pract. Rigging & Seamanship I. 78 Porter, a straight bar of iron, about 2 inches square, confined at one end to the end of the shank [of an anchor].
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 44 The lower part [of the anchor] is left disunited, but has carrier iron bars, or porters, as these prolongation rods are commonly called, welded to the extremity of each portion.
a1877 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. II. 1771/1 A cross lever fixed to the porter is the means of rotating the forging beneath the hammer.
1978 J. E. Horsley Tools Maritime Trades viii. 241 (caption) Porter clamped on head of shank.
d. A small trolley fitted with rollers over which the rope pulling a steam plough is guided, to prevent it from dragging on the ground. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > ploughing equipment > [noun] > other ploughing equipment
trainc1450
rod bat1842
sidewiper1842
porter1864
stubble-turner1875
1864 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 25 ii. 416 The Travelling-porters are intended to carry the implement rope, the outer rope being best carried by the ordinary three-wheel porters.
a1877 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. III. 2355/2 The rope is kept from sagging by rope-porters, having anti-friction rollers, over which it passes.
3. Weaving (chiefly Scottish). A (variable) number of ends in a warp; = beer n.3
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [noun] > weaving > loom > reed or slay > parts of
porter1735
split1748
1735 Caledonian Mercury 15 Apr. 16492/2 All Cloth where the Porters and Hundreds are wanting, to pay as follows.
1795 J. Sinclair Statist. Acct. Scotl. XV. 357 It was died a blue colour in the wool, and wove for a penny farthing the ell, in a ten porter or two hundred reed.
1846 G. White Treat. Weaving 277 The hundred splits in all kinds of reeds is nominally divided into five equal portions for the sake of calculation, called porters in Scotland and beers in England.
1867 D. D. Black Hist. Brechin (ed. 2) xii. 271 A thirty porter or 600 reed is divided into 600 openings in the breadth of 37 inches: 20 of these openings are called a porter.
1894 Dundee Advertiser 5 July 4 The new duty of 20 per cent. would also apply to tarpauling up to 11 or 12 porters.
1930 in Sc. National Dict. (1968) VII. 204/3 Porter denotes 40 threads. Also used to indicate fineness of cloth. Thus a 20 porter cloth means there are 800 threads on 37 inches wide at the reed.
1960 Textile Terms & Definitions (Textile Inst.) (ed. 4) 114 Porter, Portie, synonyms for Beer.
Compounds
C1. General attributive and appositive.† porter-riot n. Obsolete rare
porter-clerk n.
ΚΠ
1906 Daily Chron. 25 Jan. 6/7 A youth of seventeen, engaged there as porter-clerk.
1945 Times 11 Dec. 4/6 A porter-clerk and a boy were injured..when a man with a gun entered the station master's office at Pollokshields East L.M.S. station, Glasgow, late last night.
porter-guard n.
ΚΠ
1869 Times 20 Oct. 7/2 The inquiry then proceeded till we had got the evidence of the relatives of the deceased, and of the driver, fireman, and porter-guard of the Leicester excursion train.
1963 Times 26 Apr. 7/2 A 24-year-old porter-guard employed by British Railways.
ΚΠ
1851 ‘L. Mariotti’ Italy in 1848 181 Student-plots at Pisa, porter-riots at Leghorn, and demonstrations at Florence.
C2. † porter rod n. Founding Obsolete rare = porter bar n.1† porter's guzzle n. colloquial Obsolete rare = porter n.3
porter crab n. any of various crabs which use modified legs to carry or hold things, and mostly belong to the families Homolidae and Dorippidae.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Crustacea > [noun] > subclass Malacostraca > division Thoracostraca > order Decapoda > suborder Brachyura (crab) > miscellaneous or unspecified types of crab
sea lion1601
blue crab1763
violet crab1774
angular crab1777
red crab1825
softshell1830
turtle-crab1838
porcellanian1840
Thelphusian1842
lady crab1844
oxystome1852
lobster-crab1854
porcelain crab1854
ochidore1855
havil1857
mask crab1857
sepoy crab1857
violet land crab1864
frog crab1876
stool-crab1880
paper-shell1890
porter crab1904
mitten crab1934
1904 Daily Chron. 11 Jan. 3/3 At Patami was obtained the ‘porter’ crab, which lies in the mud clasping a sea anemone to its back by means of modified legs.
1998 Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 111 893 A new species of deep-water porter crab, Lamoha hystrix (Homolidae), is described from Canton Island (Phoenix Island group) in the central Pacific.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > metalworking equipment > [noun] > forging equipment > other forging equipment
fuller1587
burras-pipe1676
anvil1678
washer1678
porter1794
porter rod1839
top-tool1877
turn-bat1881
porter bar1887
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 44 To one end [of the anchor] a porter rod is fastened, by which the palm is carried and turned round in the fire during the progress of the fabrication.
porter's ale n. = porter n.3
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > ale or beer > beer > [noun] > porter
porter's guzzle1699
porter's ale1716
porter1721
porter's beer1745
entire1825
1716 A. Pope Further Acct. E. Curll 21 Nurs'd upon Grey Peas, Bullocks Liver, and Porter's Ale.
1734 J. Swift in M. Delany Autobiogr. & Corr. (1861) I. 502 I cannot make shifts..by starving in scanty lodgings,..as I used to do in London, with port-wine, or perhaps Porter's ale, to save charges!
2004 Advertiser (Adelaide) (Nexis) 21 July f4 1 cup porter's ale or Guinness.
porter's beer n. = porter n.3
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > ale or beer > beer > [noun] > porter
porter's guzzle1699
porter's ale1716
porter1721
porter's beer1745
entire1825
1745 C. Mortimer in Philos. Trans. 1744–5 (Royal Soc.) 43 552 Their Urine..as high-coloured as Porter's Beer.
2002 Houston Chron. (Nexis) 6 Oct. a35 Porterhouses were drinking/eating establishments in 19th-century America, frequented by porters. A dark brew called porter's beer, or ale, was served.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > ale or beer > beer > [noun] > porter
porter's guzzle1699
porter's ale1716
porter1721
porter's beer1745
entire1825
1699 E. Ward London Spy I. iii. 3 Porters Guzzle.
porter's knot n. (see knot n.1 5.)
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
portern.3
/ˈpɔːtə/, U.S. /ˈpɔrdər/ A dark-brown or black bitter beer, brewed from malt partly charred or browned by drying at a high temperature.
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the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > ale or beer > beer > [noun] > porter
porter's guzzle1699
porter's ale1716
porter1721
porter's beer1745
entire1825
1721 N. Amhurst Terrae Filius 27–30 May 2/2 We had rather dine at a Cook's Shop upon Beef, Cabbage and Porter, than tug at an Oar, or rot in a dark, stinking Dungeon.
1724 D. Defoe Great Law Subordination Consider'd ix. 261 I have convers'd with them over a Mug of Porter, as they call their Alehouse Beer and Ale.
c1750 J. Gutteridge in Gentleman's Mag. (1819) May 394/2 Harwood, my townsman, he invented first Porter to rival wine, and quench the thirst. Porter,..Whose reputation rises more and more.
1772 Town & Country Mag. 117 Hard working people delight in a kind of strong beer called porter, brown, clear, bitter and wholesome.
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 1005 At first the essential distinction of porter arose from its wort being made with highly-kilned brown malt.
1893 J. A. Barry Steve Brown's Bunyip 295 The captain certainly had sent them a couple of dozen of porter. But, as one explained,—What's the good of sich rubbishin' swankey?
1922 E. O'Neill Anna Christie (1923) i. 6 Johnny draws the lager and porter and sets the big, foaming schooners before them.
1973 G. Beare Snake on Grave vii. 38 He would never pass up a pint of porter for a pound of Porterhouse.
1989 T. Woods Gartloney Rats (song) in Pogues Peace & Love (record sleeve) There was Mahon the Singer who knew all the songs And never was known to put a foot wrong, More porter he drank than there was in the land And he'd never get drunk but stay sober.
Compounds
C1.
a. General attributive.† porter-pot n. Obsolete† porter-pump n. Obsolete rare
porter ale n.
ΚΠ
1974 W. Foley Child in Forest xi. 117 Her widowed mother, who kept her porter ale in the teapot, and kept having swigs ‘o' cold tay’.
2005 Newsday (N.Y.) (Nexis) 1 Apr. b29 I wondered whether a grilled tuna steak would stand up well to its forceful sauce, a Porter ale and tarragon reduction.
porter beer n.
ΚΠ
1770 J. Massie Reas. against Tax on Malt 5 So that every Person..,must pay more than Three Halfpence for a Pint of Porter-Beer in London.
1845 Xenia (Ohio) Torch-light 23 Oct. 4/3 J. Klein..has just received from the city..Porter Beer, Vinegar, and Wine in bottles.
1999 Daily Star 23 Apr. 24/1 The popular, heavily-hopped porter beer, named because it was such a favourite with porters in London.
porter bottle n.
ΚΠ
1794 H. Wansey Jrnl. 1 May in Jrnl. Excursion to U.S. (1796) 27 We, however, determined to land, and carrying an empty porter bottle or two with us, we got on shore.
1823 E. James Acct. Exped. Rocky Mts. I. iii. 63 In one of these he had found two pieces of earthenware, one having nearly the form of a porter-bottle.
1997 Financial Times (Nexis) 3 May (Travel section) 17 As penguins looked on, I collected early Victorian porter bottles made in Scotland and thick wine bottles from France.
porter brewery n.
ΚΠ
1769 Defoe's Tour Great Brit. (ed. 7) III. iii. 154 Of late a large Porter-brewery was erected here, where I drank that Liquor as good as at London.
1796 J. Morse Amer. Universal Geogr. (new ed.) II. 121 The porter brewery..is also chiefly carried on in London.
2001 Brit. Jrnl. Hist. Sci. 34 271 Brewing in the eighteenth century had been characterized by the rise of the major industrial porter breweries, which predominantly used brown malt.
porter malt n.
ΚΠ
1760 G. Watkins Compl. Brewer xxv. 125 It is sold ready-made, under the name of Porter-malt, in many places.
1876 Encycl. Brit. IV. 270/1 Brown or porter malt..is sometimes called ‘blown malt’, from its distended appearance.
1982 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 14 Mar. x. 13/1 The results of blending the unstrained water with fixed percentages of Pilsen, Bavarian, caramel and porter malts, hops and unrefined sugar is the antithesis of that American desideratum, ‘light beer’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > containers for drink > [noun] > flagon
wine-pot14..
stop1489
flagon1512
livery pot?1578
flagonet1598
porter-pot1764
pitch-tankard1890
carafe1950
1764 W. Dodd Visitor I. xxi. 126 It does not become them to pretend to advise, over their porter-pots.
1807 R. Southey Lett. from Eng. I. viii. 90 A transparency..which represented a loaf of bread saying to a pot of porter, I am coming down; to which the porter-pot made answer, So am I.
1897 Times 21 Apr. 3/2 He was astounded to find the élite of feminine fashion disspiating over oysters and porter-pots in a grimy underground cellar.
1997 Re: Not quite a Vickification... in alt.sysadmin.recovery (Usenet newsgroup) 27 Jan. Now what you need is a proper pint of porter poured in a proper pewter porter pot.
ΚΠ
a1845 T. Hood Poet. Wks. (1863) III. 36 One day as she was sitting down Beside the porter-pump.
porter shop n. now rare
ΚΠ
1779 E. Edwards Let. 24 Oct. in C. Lee Mem. (1792) 286 All our laws breathe the spirit of town meetings and porter shops.
1869 Times 11 Oct. 6/4 Abel called for witness, who keeps also a porter shop, because he had been canvassing, and knew the streets in which they had to drive about.
1912 Newark (Ohio) Advocate 24 Feb. 2/4 Any person, firm, or corporation keeping or owning any ale, beer or porter shop [etc.].
porter yeast n.
ΚΠ
?1790 J. Dalrymple Observ. Yeast-cake 2 London porter-yeast..is prefered..by the distillers.
1878 Johnson's New Universal Cycl. IV. 1389/2 After which it is run into the fermentation-vat and a mixture of London-porter yeast and quick Scotch barm added.
2000 Re: Difference between Porter & Stout? in alt.beer (Usenet newsgroup) 7 Dec. Flag Porter even uses a recovered porter yeast, I believe,so it's a reasonable attempt at reconstruction.
b. Objective.
porter brewer n.
ΚΠ
1762 W. Burton Let. 13 Jan. in B.L. Add. MS. 32933 f. 273 The Porter Brewers likewise make a Beer of an Extraordinary Strength, called Stout, that will bear being made weaker by mixing it with Smal.
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 95 The black malt used by the porter brewer..is partially charred.
2001 Brit. Jrnl. Hist. Sci. 34 271 Ware brown malt..was the principal choice of the major porter brewers, commanding the highest prices.
porter-drinking adj.
ΚΠ
1763 H. Dalrymple Rodondo: Canto I 10 You Porter-drinking Ch——ll wooes, With Tropes and Figures from the Stews.
1851 G. Blyth Reminisc. Miss. Life ii. 121 His porter-drinking propensities.
1996 Hey Robert, here I Am in soc.motss (Usenet newsgroup) 9 Apr. He's also one of my regular porter drinking partners.
c. Similative.† porter-hued adj. Obsolete
porter-coloured adj.
ΚΠ
1847 T. T. Stoddart Angler's Compan. i. 9 On the water becoming brown or porter-coloured,..[trout] assume a fine yellow..appearance.
1915 J. Buchan Thirty-nine Steps iii. 62 A culvert which spanned a brawling porter-coloured river.
1990 Sunday Times (Nexis) 29 Apr. And so it is, with its pot-bellied stove and ancient, sagging porter-coloured wooden inside.
ΚΠ
1883 W. Bromley-Davenport in 19th Cent. Sept. 405 This river Rauma..flows down the middle of the valley, not as Scotch rivers, London, or Dublin, porter-hued, but clear, bright, and translucent as crystal.
C2. † porter cup n. Obsolete (a) a cup for drinking porter; (b) an alcoholic drink containing porter mixed with other ingredients (see quot. 1880).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > ale or beer > mixed drinks of ale or beer > [noun]
three-threads1698
pap-in1748
half-and-half1756
porter cup1790
shandygaff1853
mixed ale1864
cooper1871
black and tan1881
four-half1884
mother-in-law1884
shandy1888
smiler1892
mild-and-bitter1933
red-eye1960
1790 Edinb. Advertiser 17 May 343/3 Porter Cups, Bread Baskets, Bread Trays, Wine Funnels.
1862 J. Thomas How to mix Drinks 73 Porter Cup. Mix in a tankard or covered jug a bottle of porter, and an equal quantity of table-ale [etc.].
1880 Barman's Man. 51 Porter Cup. Mix, in a tankard, a bottle of porter and an equal quantity of table ale; pour in a glass of brandy and a dessert-spoonful of syrup of ginger; add 3 or 4 lumps of sugar and a nutmeg grated [etc.].
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
porterv.1
/ˈpɔːtə/, U.S. /ˈpɔrdər/ 1.
a. transitive. To carry or transport, esp. to transport (goods, equipment, etc.) as a porter. Also occasionally: to carry a boat, goods, etc., past (a rapid, cataract, etc.); = portage v.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > transference > [verb (transitive)] > convey or transport > carry
carryc1400
fure1487
port1566
porter1609
tote1677
hug1788
to carry me (also you, it, etc.) (and) go1837
pack1846
hump1853
society > travel > travel by water > propelling other than by sail or oars > propel boat other than by sail or oars [verb (transitive)] > by dragging or carrying over land
portage1836
porter1974
1609 Euerie Woman in her Humor sig. E2 At night he shall be portered to our chamber.
1829 Times 16 Mar. 7/3 The carrier charged 6d. for bringing it from London, and also demanded 6d., which he had paid to the defendants, for portering the said parcel from one office to another in the same inn-yard.
1966 D. Varaday Gara-Yaka's Domain xiii. 147 Tau decided to camp there..and..strengthen Cwgki and save himself the unwelcome bother of portering his riches.
1974 Daily Tel. 13 Dec. 14 We portered all the rapids. We did this because it would have been foolhardy for two relatively inexperienced canoeists to attempt them.
1991 C. Dexter Jewel that was Ours iv. 17 Even as he spoke their baggage was being unloaded, counted, checked, and portered to the appropriate rooms.
b. intransitive. To act as or perform the duties of a porter (porter n.2 1a).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance by carrying > transport or convey by carrying [verb (transitive)] > convey by carrying (of person)
carryc1400
to take up1576
tote1677
porter1791
1791 Proc. Old Bailey 20 July 438/1 I have known the prisoner nine months, he has portered for me, and always behaved honest.
1888 Athens (Ohio) Messenger 29 Mar. 1/5 Mitchell..until recently portered at one of the hotels here.
1967 V. Loggins I hear Amer. x. 272 He portered in a barber-shop, shifted scenery in a theatre, handled a truck in a brick-kiln.
2001 National Catholic Reporter (Nexis) 12 Jan. 12 For the next 18 days the men, ranging in age from teens to late 50s, portered for the Burmese army up and down rugged mountain paths.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > ploughing equipment > [verb (transitive)] > support plough
porter1864
1864 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 25 ii. 395 It would have been interesting..to have tested the draft of this rope dragging on the surface, against the wire rope properly ‘portered’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† porterv.2
Obsolete.
transitive with it and intransitive. To act as a gatekeeper or porter.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > service > servant > personal or domestic servant > domestic servant > be in domestic service [verb (intransitive)] > act as door- or gate-keeper
portera1616
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) ii. iii. 16 Ile Deuill-Porter it no further. View more context for this quotation
1627 P. Fletcher Locustæ iv. xxviii Wee'l hold their heart, wee'l porter at their eare.
1647 R. Brome in J. Fletcher Mad Lover (front matter) Let me, at your gate, Porter it here, 'gainst those that come too late, And are unfit to enter.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
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