POOR-BOX

-Poor in spirit, in a Scriptural sense, humble; contrite; abased in one's own sight by a sense of guilt. Mat. v. 3.

Poor-box (pör boks), n. A box to receive money for the poor. Poorfu' (pör'fu), a.

Powerful. [Scotch.] Poorhouse (pör'hous), n. A residence for persons receiving public charity; a workhouse; an alms-house.

Poor-john (pör-jon), n. A fish of the cod family, formerly a cheap kind of food.

'Tis well thou art not fish; if thou hadst, thou hadst been poor-john. Shak.

Poor-law (pör'la), n. A law or the laws collectively established by act of parliament for the management of the funds for the maintenance of the poor, and for applying those funds in the best manner, so as to afford the necessary relief to the proper objects. Poorliness (pörli-nes), n. State of being poorly; ill-health. Mrs. Gore.

Poorly (pörli), adv. In a poor manner or condition: (a) without wealth; in indigence or want of the conveniences and comforts of life; as, to live poorly. (b) With little or no success; in an inferior manner; insufficiently; defectively; as, these men have succeeded poorly in business.

If you sow one ground with the same kind of grain it will prosper but poorly.

You meaner beauties of the night,
That poorly satisfy our eyes.

(c) Meanly; without spirit.

Bacon.

Wotton.

Nor is their courage or their wealth so low,
That from his wars they poorly would retire.
Dryden.

Poorly (pörli), a. Somewhat ill; indisposed; not in health. [Colloq.]

For three or four weeks past I have lost ground, having been poorly in health. Th. Scott.

Poor-man-of-mutton (pör'man-ov-mut"n), n. Cold mutton broiled; especially, the remains of a shoulder of mutton broiled. [Scotch.]

Poorness (pör'nes), n. The state, condition, or quality of being poor, in any of the senses of the word; poverty.

No less I hate him than the gates of hell,
That poorness can force an untruth to tell.
Chapman.

The poorness of the herbs shows the poorness of the earth. Bacon.

There is a kind of sluggish resignation, as well as poorness and degeneracy of spirit, in a state of slaAddison.

very.

Poor-spiritedness (pör-spi'rit-ed-nes), n. Meanness or baseness of spirit; cowardice. 'That meanness and poor-spiritedness that accompanies guilt.' South.

Poor's Roll (pörz rōl), n. 1. A roll or list of paupers, or persons entitled to or who have received parochial relief.-2. In Scots law, the roll of litigants who, by reason of poverty, are privileged to sue or defend in forma pauperis, their cause being conducted gratuitously by the counsel and agents for the poor.

Poortith (pörtith), n. Poverty. [Scotch.] Poot, Pout (put, pout), n. A poult; a young grouse. [Scotch.]

Pootry,Poutrie (put'ri), n. Poultry. [Scotch.] Pop (pop), n. [From the sound.] 1. A small smart quick sound or report.-2. A beverage which issues from the bottle containing it with a slight explosion or pop: chiefly used in composition; as, ginger-pop. [Slang.] 3. A pistol. A pair of pops, silver-mounted.' Smollett. [Slang.]

Pop (pop), v.i. pret. popped; ppr. popping. 1. To appear to the eye suddenly; to enter or issue forth with a quick, sudden motion. I startled at his popping upon me unexpectedly. Addison. 2. To dart; to start from place to place suddenly.

Others have a trick of popping up and down every moment, from their paper to the audience, like an idle schoolboy. Swift.

-To pop off, to disappear or go suddenly. Pop (pop), v. t. pret. & pp. popped; ppr. popping. 1. To thrust forward, or offer suddenly; to thrust or push suddenly with a quick motion. 'Popp'd a paper into his hand.' Milton.

Didst thou never pop Thy head into a tinman's shop! Prior. 2. To shift; to put off. 'Do you pop me off with this slight answer?' Beau. & F.

490

3. To pawn or pledge at a pawnbroker's. [Slang.]-To pop corn, to parch or roast Indian corn until it expands and 'pops' open. [United States.]-To pop the question, in familiar language, to make an offer of marriage to a lady.

Pop (pop), adv. Suddenly; unexpectedly; with sudden entrance or appearance. 'Pop goes his pate.' Beau. & F. Pop-corn (pop'korn), n. Corn or maize for parching; parched maize; popped-corn. [United States.]

Pop-dock (pop'dok), n. The foxglove. Pope (pop), n. [A. Sax. púpa, from L.L.

The Pope in his habit of grand ceremony. papa; Gr. papa, pappas, pappos; Sp. It. and Pg. papa; Fr. pape. The word denotes father, and is among the first words articulated by children.] 1. The Bishop of Rome, the head of the Roman Catholic Church. The appellation of pope was in early times given to all Christian bishops; but about the latter end of the eleventh century, in the pontificate of Gregory VII., it was restricted to the Bishop of Rome, whose peculiar title it has ever since continued to be.2. In the Greek Church, a parish priest; a chaplain in a Greek or Russian regiment, in a ship, &c.-3. The ruffe, a small fish closely allied to the perch; the Acerina cernua.-4. A local name for the bullfinch. Popedom (pop'dum), n. 1. The place, office, or dignity of the pope; papal dignity.— 2. The jurisdiction of the pope. Popehood (pop'hyd), n. being a pope; papal dignity. To all Popes and Pope's Advocates.. the answer of the world is: Once for all your Popehood has become untrue. Cariyle.

The condition of

Pope-Joan (pop-jōn'), n. A game of cards. Popeling (pop'ling), n. 1. An adherent of the pope; a papist.-2. A little or inferior pope: a term of contempt. 'Unless we be content to beslave our faith into their popeling.' Bp. Hall. Popelot, n. [From L. pupa, a doll, whence puppet.] A little doll. Chaucer.

Popery (po'per-i), n. The religion of the Church of Rome, comprehending doctrines and practice: a term offensive to Roman Catholics.

Pope's Eye (pops i'), n. The gland surrounded with fat in the middle of the thigh of an ox or sheep. It is much prized for its delicacy.

Pope's-head (pops-hed'), n. A large round brush with a long handle, for dusting ceilings. [Local.]

An active stirring girl, never seen without a carpet-broom, pope's-head, or duster in her hand. Lady Blessington.

Popeship (pop'ship), n. The rank or dignity of a pope; popehood.

Popeship, spiritual Fatherhood of God's Church, is that a vain semblance, of cloth and parchment? Carlyle.

It is an awful fact.

Popet, n. A puppet. Chaucer. Pop-gun (pop'gun), n. A small gun or tube and rammer for shooting pellets, which makes a 'pop' by the expansion of compressed air when the pellet is expelled. Popingay + (pop'in-gā), n. A popinjay. Popinjay (pop'in-ja), n. [O.E. popingay, O.Sc. papingo, Fr. papegaut, papegai, Sp.

Young popinjays learn quickly to speak. Ascham. 2. A woodpecker; the green woodpecker. 'The daughters of Pierius who were turned into popinjays or woodpeckers.' Peacham. 3. A gay trifling young man; a fop or coxcomb. To be so pestered by a popinjay.' Shak.-4. In Scotland, a figure of a bird decked with party-coloured feathers so as to resemble a popinjay or parrot, used in an ancient game formerly practised with archery, and afterwards with firearms. It was suspended to a pole, and served for a mark, at which the competitors discharged their pieces at the distance of 60 or 70 paces. He who brought down the mark held the title of Captain of the Popinjay for the remainder of the day. Sir W. Scott. Popish (pop'ish), a. Relating to the pope; taught by the pope; pertaining to the pope or the Roman Catholic Church; as, popish tenets or ceremonies: used with rather a contemptuous shade of meaning. Popishly (pop'ish-li), adv. In a popish manner; with a tendency to popery; as, to be popishly affected or inclined.

Poplar (pop'lär), n. [O.Fr. poplier, Mod. Fr. peuplier, from L. populus, a poplar.] A common name of sundry well-known trees, genus Populus, nat. order Salicaceae (by some regarded as a sub-order of Amentaceae) There are numerous species, as the abele or white poplar (P. alba), gray poplar (P. canescens), trembling poplar or aspen (P. tremula), the black poplar (P. nigra). These are all found in Britain. The poplars are generally tall straight trees, and are chiefly natives of the temperate and cold regions of the northern hemisphere. The timber is soft and light, and the bark usually astringent, tonic, and stomachic. The balsam-poplar is the P. balsamifera, which grows in the United States. The cotton-wood of North America (P. monilifera) is valued for its timber, and has been pretty extensively introduced into Britain, as has also the Ontario poplar (P. candicans), which possesses something of the balsamic character of P.balsamifera. P. heterophylla of the Southern States is not

Poplar Tree (Populus alba). able for the size of its leaves, which are often 6 inches long.

Poplared (pop'lärd), a. Covered with or containing poplars.

Poplin (pop'lin), n. [Fr. papeline, popeline: so named, it is said, because first manufactured at Avignon in France, formerly a part of the Papal territories.] A stuff made of silk and worsted, of many varieties, watered, figured, brocaded, &c.

Poplitaus (pop-li-te'us), n. [L. poples, poptitis, the ham.] In anat. a muscle which serves to bend the thigh and leg. Popliteal, Poplitic (pop-li-te'al, pop-lit'ik), a. [See POPLITEUS.] Pertaining to the ham or to the knee-joint. Poppedt (popt),a. [O. Fr. popin, nice, spruce, from L. pupa, a doll.] Nicely dressed. Romaunt of the Rose.

Popped-corn (popt'korn), n. Parched Indian corn: so called from the noise it makes on bursting open by the heat. [American.] Poppert (pop'er), n. A dagger. Chaucer. Poppet (pop'et), n. [Fr. poupée, a doll, a head of a lathe, &c. See PUPPET.] 1. A term of endearment. See PUPPET.-2. A shore

POPPET-HEAD

placed between a vessel's bottom and the bilge-ways, at the foremost and aftermost parts, to support her in launching.-3. One of the heads of a lathe.

Poppet-head (pop'et-hed), n. The part of a lathe which holds the back-centre. Popping-crease (pop'ing-kres), n. In cricket, see under CREASE.

Popple (pop'l), v.i. [Dim. and freq. of pop.] To move quickly up and down, as a cork dropped on water.

Poppy (pop'pi), n. [A. Sax. papig, popig, Norm. papi, W. pabi, all perhaps borrowed from L. papaver, a poppy.] 1. The English name of the genus Papaver, containing many species, from one of which, the P. somniferum or white poppy, is collected opium. This is the milky juice of the capsule when half-grown, or of any other part of the plant, which exudes from incisions made in it. See PAPAVER, OPIUM.-2. Same as Poppy-head.

Poppy-head (pop'pi-hed), n. A generic term applied to the groups of foliage or other ornaments placed on the summits of bench

1

Poppy-heads.

1, Cumner, Berks. 2, Merrow, Surrey.

ends, desks, and other woodwork in ecclesiastical buildings of the middle ages. Called also Poppy and Poop. Fairholt. Poppy-oil (pop'pi-oil), n. A bland, drying oil obtained from the seeds of the poppy. It is one of the three fixed oils used in painting. Fairholt.

Pop-shop (pop'shop), n. A pawnbroker's shop. [Slang.]

Populace (pop'u-las), n. [Fr. populace, It. populazzo, from L. populus, the people.] The common people; the vulgar; the multitude, comprehending all persons not distinguished by rank, education, office, or profession. Now swarms the populace, a countless throng.' Pope.

Populacyt (pop'u-la-sí), n. The populace or common people; the rabble. Dr. H. More. Popular (pop'u-lér), a. [Fr. populaire, L. popularis. See PEOPLE.] 1. Pertaining to the common people; constituted by or depending on the people; as, the popular voice; popular elections. So the popular vote inclines.' Milton. The uncertain nature of a popular government's proceedings.' Brougham.-2. Suitable to common people; easy to be comprehended; not abstruse; plain; familiar; as, a popular treatise on astronomy; a popular description of the electric telegraph.

Hooker.

Homilies are plain and popular instructions. 3. Beloved by the people; enjoying the favour of the people; pleasing to people in general; as, a popular preacher; a popular ministry; a popular discourse; a popular war or peace.

In their sermons they were apt to enlarge on the state of the present time, and to preach against the sins of princes and courts, a topic that naturally makes men popular. Bp. Burnet.

4.† Studious of the favour of the people; courting the vulgar; of democratic proclivities.

A popular man is in truth no better than a prostitute to common fame and to the people. Dryden. 5. Plebeian: vulgar. 'Base, common, and popular.' Shak.-6. Prevailing among the people; as, a popular disease. Johnson. [Rare.]-Popular action, in law, an action which gives a penalty to the person that sues for the same.

Popularity (pop-u-lar'i-ti), n. [L. popula ritas.] 1. The state or quality of being popular; the state of being pleasing to or esteemed by the people at large; good-will or favour proceeding from the people; as, the popularity of the ministry; the popularity of a law or public measure; the popularity of a public officer or of a preacher; the popularity of a novel.

The history of literature attests... that power of

491

expression is a surer preservative of a writer's popu larity than even strength of thought itself. Craik.

2. Vulgarity; commonness. B. Jonson.3. Representation suited to vulgar or common conception; what catches the vulgar; a piece of clap-trap. 'Popularities which sway the ordinary judgement.' Bacon. [Rare.]-4. The act of currying favour with the people.

Cato the younger charged Murena, and indited him in open court for popularity and ambition. Holland.

Popularization (pop'u-lèr-iz-a"shon), n. Act of making popular; as, the popularization Popularize (pop'u-lér-iz), v.t. pret. & pp. of scientific study. popularized; ppr. popularizing. To make popular; to treat in a popular manner, or so as to be generally intelligible; to spread among the people; as, to popularize philosophy or physics; to popularize a knowledge of chemical principles. The popu larizing of religious teaching.' Milman. Popularly (pop'ü-lér-li), adv. 1. In a popular manner; so as to please the populace. The victor knight,

Bare-headed, popularly low had bowed. Dryden. 2. Among the people at large; currently; commonly; prevalently.

The place of lord-lieutenant of Ireland was popu larly reported to be worth forty thousand pounds Macaulay.

a year.

The state 'Meretri

Popularness (pop'u-lèr-nes), n. of being popular; popularity. cious popularness in literature.' Coleridge. Populate (pop'ü-lat), v.i. pret. populated; ppr. populating. [From L. populus, the people.] To breed people; to propagate. Great shoals of people which go on to populate.' Bacon.

Populate (pop'u-lat), v. t. pret. & pp. populated; ppr. populating. To furnish with inhabitants, either by natural increase or by immigration or colonization; to people; as, to populate a country or colony. Populatet (pop'u-lat), a. Populous. Population (pop-u-la'shon), n. 1. The act or process of populating or peopling; as, the rapid population of the country still continues.-2. The whole number of people or inhabitants in a country; as, the population was five millions.

A country may have a great population and yet not be populous. Tooke.

PORCH

term, like dog and hound, being applied to several sharks; comp. porpoise.] A species of shark; the Lamna cornubica. Called also Beaumaris Shark.

Porcated, Porcate (por'kat-ed, por kāt), a. [L. porca, a ridge.] Ridged; formed in ridges.

Porcelain (pōr'sē-lan), n. [Fr. porcelaine, from It. porcellana, meaning first a certain shell (the Venus shell), then the nacre of the shell, and last porcelain. According to Mahn from L. porcus, the private parts of a woman, because the opening of this shell resembled them.] The finest species of pottery ware, originally manufactured in China and Japan, but now made in Europe and America. It is formed only from the finest clays united with siliceous earths capable of communicating to them a certain degree of translucency by means of their vitrification. The best English porcelain is made from a mixture of Cornish and Devonshire china-clay or kaolin (see KAOLIN), ground flints, ground Cornish stone, and calcined bones in powder, besides some other materials according to the fancy of the manufacturer. The glaze consists of ground felspar or Cornish stone. The manufacture was first introduced to Europe in the beginning of the sixteenth century, but it was not until after the middle of the eighteenth that it reached any importance in this country. English porcelain has now been brought to a great state of perfection, owing chiefly to the genius and enterprise of Josiah Wedgwood of Staffordshire, in which county the chief potteries still are.

Porcelain (pōr'sē-län), a. Belonging to or consisting of porcelain.

Porcelain (por'se-lan), n. The plant called purslain (which see). Porcelain-clay (pōr'sē-lán-klä), n. Same as

Kaolin.

Neither is the population to be reckoned only by number, for a smaller number that spend more and earn less do wear out an estate sooner than a greater number that live lower and gather more. Bacon.

Populator (pop'u-lat-ér), n. One who populates or peoples; as, the populators of a country.

Populicide (pop'u-li-sid), n. [L. populus, the people, and cado, to kill.] Slaughter of the people. Eclec. Rev. [Rare.]

Populin, Populine (pop'u-lin), n. (C2H22O.) A crystallizable substance found in the bark, root, and leaves of the Populus tremula, or aspen, along with salicine. It forms delicate white needles, which have a sweet taste like that of liquorice. Populosity (pop-u-los'i-ti), n. Sir T. Browne. Populous (pop'u-lus), a. [L. populosus, from populus, people.] 1. Full of inhabitants; containing many inhabitants in proportion to the extent of the country.

ness.

Populous

It should have been some fine confection
That might have given the broth some dainty taste.
The powder was too gross and populous.
Arden of Feversham.

Populously (pop'u-lus-li), adv. With many
inhabitants in proportion to the extent of
country.
Populousness (pop'u-lus-nes), n. The state
of being populous, or of having many inha-
bitants in proportion to the extent of coun-
try.

By populousness, in contradistinction to population, is understood the proportion the number bears to the surface of the ground they live on. Tooke. Populus (pop'u-lus), n. A genus of trees. See POPLAR. Porbeagle (por'bē-gl), n. Fr. porc, a hog, and E.

[Lit. hog-beaglebeagle, the latter

a. Pertaining to, like, or of the texture of porcelain. Porcellanaceous (pōr'sel-la-na" shus), a. Same as Porcellaneous. Porcellane (pōr'sel-lán), a. Same as Porcellaneous.

Per

Porcellaneous (por-sel-la'nē-us), a. taining to or resembling porcelain.-Porcellaneous shells are those which have a compact texture, an enamelled surface, and are generally beautifully variegated. Porcellanite (por sel-lan-it), n. [See PORCELAIN.] A siliceous mineral, a species of jasper, of various colours. It is found in coalmines which have beds of coal-shale or slate-clay indurated and vitrified by subterranean heat. It is sometimes marked with vegetable impressions of a brick-red colour. Porcellio (por-sel'li-o), n. A genus of crustaceans belonging to the family Oniscidæ, and order Isopoda. They are found under stones, old logs of wood, &c., and are often called Hog-lice.

Porch (porch), n. [Fr. porche; Pr. porge; It. portico, from L. porticus, from porta, a gate,

Porphyrogenitus (por'fi-rō-jen”it-us), n. [L. porphyra, purple, and genitus, begot, born.] A title given, especially by the Romans of the Eastern Empire, to such of the sovereign's sons as were born after his accession to the throne. See PORPHYROGENITISM. Porphyry (por'fi-ri), n. [Fr. porphyre, Pr. porfiri, from Gr. porphyrites, lit. a purplecoloured rock, from porphyra, purple.] 1. Originally, the name given to a very hard stone, partaking of the nature of granite, susceptible of a fine polish, and consequently much used for sculpture. In the fine arts it is known as Rosso Antiquo, and by geologists as Red Syenitic Porphyry. It consists of a homogeneous felspathic base or matrix, having crystals of rose-coloured felspar, called oligoclase, with some plates of blackish hornblende, and grains of oxidized iron ore imbedded, giving to the mass a speckled complexion. It is of a red, or rather of a purple and white colour, more or less variegated, the shade being of all gradations, from violet to a claret colour. Egypt and the East furnish this material in abundance. It also abounds in Minorca, where it is of a red lead colour, variegated with black, white, and green. Pale and red porphyry, variegated with black, white, and green, is found in separate nodules in Germany, England, and Ireland. The art of cutting porphyry as practised by the ancients appears to be now quite lost.-2. In geol. any unstratified or igneous rock in which detached crystals of felspar or some other mineral are diffused through a base of other mineral composition. Strictly speaking, however, the term ought to be restricted to such rocks as have a felspathic basis. The varieties of porphyry are known as felspar porphyry, claystone porphyry, porphyritic granite, and porphyritic greenstone.

Porphyry-shell (por'fl-ri-shel), n.

A shell

of the genus Murex. From one species of this genus was formerly obtained a liquor that produced the Tyrian purple. Porpice + (por pis), n. pl. Porpoises.

Wallowing porpice sport and lord it in the flood. Drayton. Porpoise (por pois), n. [O.E. porcpisce, porpesse, porpese, porpus, &c., lit. swine-fish, from L. porcus, a pig or swine, and piscis, a fish. Comp. G. meer-schwein, D. marsvin, lit. sea-swine.] A cetaceous mammal of the genus Phocæna, of which about five species are known. The common porpoise (P. communis) is the most familiar and

Porpoise (Phocæna communis).

smallest of all Cetacea, rarely exceeding 5 feet in length. The head is blunt, and not produced into a projecting muzzle: the body is thick toward the head, but more slender toward the tail. The porpoise frequents the North Sea, and is frequently seen off our shores. It feeds almost entirely on fish, which its numerous equal and interlocking teeth are admirably adapted to catch, and herds of porpoises pursue the vast shoals of herring, mackerel, &c., into bays and estuaries.

Porporino (por-po-rē'nō), n. [It.] An alloy of quicksilver, tin, and sulphur, constituting a yellow powder, used by artists in the middle ages in place of gold. Porpust (por'pus), n.

Same as Porpoise. Then I drag a bloated corpus, Swell'd with a dropsy like a porpus. Swift. Porraceous (po-rā'shus), a. [L. porraceus, from porrum, a leek or onion.] Greenish; resembling the leek in colour. Wiseman. Porrect (po-rekt'), a. [L. porrigo, to extend.] In zool. a term applied to a part which extends forth horizontally, as if to meet something.

493

Porrectiont (po-rek'shon), n. [L. porrectio, porrigo-por, forward, and rego, to direct.] The act of stretching forth.

Porret (por'ret), n. [O. Fr. porrette, It. porretta, from L. porrum, a leek.] A scallion; a leek or small onion.

Porridge (por'ij), n. [Perhaps from L. porrum, porrus, a leek, and meaning originally leek soup or broth; but more probably a corruption of pottage. Comp. porringer, and Sc. carritches for E. catechism.] 1. A kind of food made by boiling vegetables in water with or without meat; broth; soup; pottage. 'Pray a month with mutton and porridge.' Shak.-2. A kind of food made by slowly stirring oatmeal, or other similar substance, amongst water or milk while boiling till a thickened mass is formed.

Porridge-pot (por'ij-pot), n. The pot in
which porridge is cooked.
Porrigo (po-ri'go), n. [L.] Scald-head; scurf
or scall in the head. It is principally char-
acterized by an eruption of pustules, un-
accompanied by fever. There are several
varieties, some of which affect other parts
of the body, and some are contagious.
Porringer (por'in-jer), n. [From porridge,
the form having been suggested by Fr. pot-
ager, a soup-can. Then has intruded as in
messenger.] 1. A porridge-dish; a small
earthenware or tin vessel out of which chil-
dien eat their food.

And often after sunset, sir,
When it is light and fair,
I take my little porringer,
And eat my supper there.

Wordsworth.

2. † A head-dress in the shape of a porringer: in contempt.

A haberdasher's wife of small wit .. rail'd upon me, till her pink'd porringer fell off her head. Shak. Port (port), n. [A. Sax. port, a port, haven, harbour, from L. portus, a haven; akin to porta, a gate. Port is one of the six words recognized as taken into the language directly from the speech of the Roman invaders. In addition to being a common noun it enters into many place-names, as Portland, Portsmouth, Bridport. For other words adopted directly from invaders, see STREET.] A natural or artificial harbour; a haven; any bay, cove, inlet, or recess of the sea, or of a lake, or the mouth of a river, which vessels can enter, and where they can lie safe from injury by storms. In a legal sense, a port is a place where persons and merchandise are allowed to pass into and out of the realm; a place where there is a constant resort of vessels for the purpose of loading and unloading, with provision made for enabling them to do so. In this sense, therefore, the term is not synonymous with harbour.-Port admiral, the admiral commanding at a naval port.-Port of entry, a port where a custom-house is established for the entry of goods.-Free port, a port open and free for merchants of all nations to load or unload their vessels in, without paying any duty or customs. Free port is also a term used for a total exemption and franchise which any set of merchants enjoy for goods imported into a state, or those of the growth of the country exported by them. -Close port, open port. See under CLOSE. Port (port), n. [L. porta, a gate, from same root as Gr. poros, a passage, and peraō, to pass through; Skr. par, to pass through, and L. per, through.] 1. A gate; an entrance. From their ivory port the cherubim Forth issued.

Milton.

2. Naut. a passage-way in the side of a ship; an embrasure or opening in the side of a ship of war, through which cannon are discharged; a port-hole; also, the covering of such an opening. In merchant ships, ports are square holes cut in the sides, bow, or stern of the vessel for loading and discharging timber cargoes, and other similar purposes.-Air ports, ports for the admission of air; called also Air Scuttles. Those in the sides are called ballast ports, being commonly used for taking in ballast. The ports in the bow or stern are called raft ports.-Bridle ports, ports cut in a vessel's counter by which hawsers are taken out.Light port, an opening provided with a glazed lid or side-light. See Row-PORT.3. An aperture for the passage of steam or a fluid. In steam-engines, ports are two passages leading to the inside of the cylinder, and by means of which the steam enters and returns above and below the piston; the former is called the steam port, the latter the exhaust port. The term port is also ap

PORTAL

plied to similar openings for any fluid, as air, water, &c.

Port (port), v.t. [Fr. porter, from L. porto, to carry.] 1. To bear; to carry; to convey. 'They are easily ported by boat into other shires.' Fuller.-2. To carry in military fashion; to carry a weapon, such as a rifle, in a slanting direction, upwards towards the left, and across the body in front, as in the military command 'to port arms."

With ported spears, as thick as when a field
Of Ceres, ripe for harvest, waving bends
Her bearded grove of ears.
Milton.

Port (port), n. [Fr. port, carriage, demeanour, from porter, L. porto, to carry.] 1. Carriage; air; mien; manner of movement or walk; demeanour; external appearance; as, a proud port; the port of a gentleman. 'Assume the port of Mars.' Shak.

2. State; standing; position. Thou shalt be master, Tranio, in my stead, Keep house, and port, and servants as I should. Shak. SYN. Air, mien, bearing, carriage, demeanour, behaviour, deportment. Port (port), n. [Etym. uncertain.] Naut. the larboard or left side of a ship, as in the phrases the ship heels to port;' hard a port.' The left side of the ship was called port by Admiralty order, in preference to the old larboard, as less mistakable in sound for starboard.

Port (port), v.t. and i. [From the above noun.] Naut. to turn or put to the left or larboard side of a ship: said of the helm; as, port the helm; he ordered him to port. Port (port), n. [From Oporto, whence it is shipped.] A kind of wine made in Portugal. See PORT-WINE.

Claret is the liquor for boys, port for men; but he who aspires to be a hero must drink brandy. Johnson. Port (port), n. [Gael.] A martial piece of music adapted to the bagpipes.

Sir W. Scott.

The pipe's shrill port aroused each clan. Portability (pōrt-a-bil'i-ti), n. The state of being portable; fitness to be carried; portableness.

Portable (port'a-bl), a. [L. portabilis, such as can be carried, from porto, to carry.] 1. Capable of being carried by the hand or about the person; capable of being carried or transported from place to place; easily carried; not bulky or heavy. 'Portable commodities.' Locke. In Wales where they have portable boats.' Sir T. Browne.

The pleasure of the religious man is an easy and South. portable pleasure.

2.† Sufferable; supportable. 'How light and portable my pain seems now.' Shak. 3. Capable of carrying or transporting. Any portable river.' Hackluyt. Portableness (pōrt'a-bl-nes), n. The quality of being portable; portability. Portage (port'āj), n. [See PORT.] 1. The act of carrying.-2. The price of carriage. Fell.-3.† Tonnage; burden, as of a vessel. All other of whatsoever portage, bulk, quantitie or qualitie they may be.' Hackluyt.-4.t A port-hole. Shak.-5. A break in a chain of water communication over which goods, boats, &c., have to be carried, as from one lake, river, or canal to another, or along the banks of rivers round waterfalls, rapids, &c.

Portague, Porteguet (pōr'ta-gū, pōr'te-gu), n. A Portuguese gold coin, worth, according to some, about £4, 108.; according to others, only £3, 108. 'I've a portague I have kept this half-year.' B. Jonson. Written Portal (port'al), n. [O.Fr. portal; L.L. poralso Portigue. tale, from L. porta, a gate.] 1. A door or gate; a large or imposing entrance or opening for passage: a poetical or dignified term. King Edward doth appear As doth the blushing, discontented sun From out the fiery portal of the east.

Shak.

2. In arch. (a) the lesser gate when there are two of different dimensions at the entrance of a building. (b) A term formerly applied to a little square corner of a room separated from the rest by a wainscot, and forming a short passage into a room. (c) A kind of arch over a door or gate, or the framework of the gate. (d) In France, the entrance façade of a building.-3. Same as

Portass.

Portal (pōrt'al), a. In anat. pertaining to, connected with, or constituted by the vena porta. See VENA. -Portal circulation, in

PORTAMENTO

anat. a subordinate part of the venous circulation, belonging to the liver, in which the blood makes an additional circuit before it joins the rest of the venous blood. The term is also applied to an analogous system of vessels in the kidney. Portamento (por-ta-men'to), n. [It.] In music, the gliding from one note to another without a break.

Portance (port'ans), n. [From Fr. porter, to carry.] Air; mien; carriage; port; demeanour. Her stately portance.' Spenser. Portasst (port'as), n. [O. Fr. porte-hors, from porter, to carry, and hors, out of doors: so called from being easily portable.] A breviary; a prayer-book.

An old priest always read in his portass mumpsimus domine for sumpsimus; whereof when he was admonished, he said that he now had used mumpsimus thirty years, and would not leave his old mumpsimus for their new sumpsimus. Camden.

Variously spelled, as Portesse, Portasse, Portise, Portos, Portat, Portace, Portuas, Portuse, Portous, Portase, Porteus, Porthose. Portate (por'tāt), a. [L.

porto, portatum, to carry.] In her. said of a cross placed bendwise in an escutcheon, that is, lying as if carried over a person's shoulder.

Portativet (port'at-iv), a. [Fr. portatif.] Portable. Chaucer.

Port-bar (port'bär), n.

Cross portate.

Naut. (a) a bar to secure the ports of a ship in a gale of wind. (b) A boom formed of large trees or spars lashed together, moored transversely across a port, to prevent entrance or egress. (c) An accumulated shoal or bank of sand, &c., at the mouth of a port

or harbour.

Port-cannon (port'kan-on),n. An ornament for the knees, resembling stiff boot-tops. 'He walks in his port-cannons, like one that stalks in long grass.' S. Butler. Port-charges (port'chärj-ez), n. pl. In com. charges to which a ship or its cargo is subjected in a harbour, as wharfage, &c. Called also Port-dues.

Portcluset (port'klus), n. A portcullis. Port-crayon (port-kra'on), n. A holder for chalks or crayons; a pencil-case. Portcullis (port-kul'is), n. [Fr. porte, a gate, and coulisse,groove, from couler, to trickle, to slip or slide down, from L. colare, to strain, filter.] 1. In fort. a strong grating of timber or iron, resembling a harrow, made to slide in vertical grooves in the jambs of the entrance gate

of a fortified place, to protect the gate in case of assault. The vertical bars, when of wood, were pointed with iron at the bottom, for the purpose of striking into the ground when the grating was dropped, or of injuring whatever it might fall upon. In

Portcullis.

general there were a succession of portcullises in the same gateway.-2. In her. same as Lattice (which see). - Portcullis money, a name given to the coins struck near the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign for the use of the East India Company in trading in the East. They bore on the obverse the effigy of the queen, and on the reverse her badge of the portcullis crowned. The piece of eight testers, commonly called the portcullis crown, was equal to a Spanish dollar, or piece of eight, or to 48. 6d. English money.

Portcullis (port-kul'is), v. t. To arm or furnish with a portcullis; hence, to shut; to bar; to obstruct.

Within my lips you have engaoled my tongue, Doubly portcullis'd with my teeth and lips. Shak. Port-dues (port'düz), n. pl. See PORTCHARGES.

Porte (port), n. [The chief office of the Ottoman Empire is styled Babi Ali, lit. the High Gate, from the gate (bab) of the palace at which justice was administered; and the French translation of this term being

494

Sublime Porte, hence the use of this word.] The Ottoman court; the government of the Turkish Empire.

Portecolise,t n. A portcullis (which see).
Chaucer.

Portedt (port'ed), a. Having gates.
These bright keys

Designing power to ope the ported skies.
B. Jonson.
Porte-feuille (port-ful-yu), n. [See PORT-
FOLIO.] A portfolio; a pocket-book. See
PORTFOLIO.

Porte-monnaie (port-mon-na), n. [Fr., from porter, to carry, and monnaie, money.] A small pocket-book for carrying money. Portend (por-tend), v.t. [L. portendo, an archaic form of protendo, signifying primarily to stretch forth, hence to point out, indicate, portend-por, pro, forth or forward, and tendo, to stretch.] 1. t To stretch forth; to protend. 'Idomeneus portended steel. Pope.-2. To foreshow ominously;

to foretoken; to indicate something future by previous signs.

A moist and a cool summer portendeth a hard winBacon.

ter.

SYN. To foreshow, foretoken, betoken, forebode, augur, presage, threaten. Portension (por-ten'shon), n. The act of portending or foreshowing. Sir T. Browne. Portent (por'tent or por-tent'), n. [L. portentum, a sign, an omen. See PORTEND.] That which portends or foretokens; especially, an omen of ill; any previous sign or prodigy indicating the approach of evil or calamity.

My loss by dire portents the god foretold. Dryden. Portentivet (por-ten'tiv), a. Foreshowing; portentous. Sir T. Browne.

Portentous (por-ten'tus), a. [L. portentosus.] 1. Of the nature of a portent; ominous; foreshowing ill; as, ignorance and superstition hold meteors to be portentous.

This portentous figure Comes armed through our watch, so like the king That was. Shak.

2. Monstrous; prodigious; wonderful. No beast of more portentous size

In the Hercynian forest lies. Roscommon. Portentously (por-ten'tus-li), adv. In a portentous manner; ominously; monstrously; wonderfully. Portentously deformed.' Warburton. Holds up his glass full of the rosy fluid, and winks at it portentously.' Thackeray.

Porter (port'er), n. [Fr. portier, from L. porta, a gate.] 1. One who has the charge of a door or gate; a doorkeeper.

Arm all my household presently, and charge The porter he let no man in till day. B. Jonson. 2. A waiter in a hall; one that waits at the door to receive messages. Porter (port'èr), n. [Fr. porteur, from porter, to carry, L. porto.] 1. A carrier; a person who carries or conveys burdens, parcels, or messages for hire.-2. A law officer who carries a white or silver rod before the justice in eyre.-3. A dark-coloured malt liquor which differs from ale and pale beer in being made wholly or partially with highdried malt. It was so called from its having been originally the favourite beverage of the porters and work-people of the metropolis and other large towns of the British Empire.-4. In forging, a bar of iron attached to a heavy forging, whereby it is guided beneath the hammer or into the furnace, being suspended by chains from a crane above; also, a bar from whose end an article is forged. E. H. Knight.-5.† A lever. 'A leaver or porter to lift timber or other Porterage (port'èr-aj), n. 1. Money charged things with.' Withals. or paid for the carriage of burdens or parcels by a porter.-2. The business of a porter or doorkeeper.

Porteress (port'èr-es), n. See PORTRESS. Porterly (port'er-li), a. Coarse; vulgar; like

a porter. The porterly language of swearing and obscenity.' Dr. Bray. [Rare.] Portesse (port'es), n. [See PORTASS.] 'In his hand his portesse still he bare.' Spenser. Port-fire (port'fir), n. [Port, to carry, and fire.] A strong paper or cloth case firmly packed with a composition of nitre, sulphur, and mealed powder, so as to have the form of a stick, generally burning an inch a minute, used to convey fire from the slow-match, or the like, to the priming of ordnance, though now generally superseded by other arrangements. With a slightly altered composition it is used for signals and for firing charges in mines.

PORTIONER

Portfolio (port-fō'li-o), n. [Formed in imitation of Fr. porte-feuille, a portfolio, the office of a minister-porter, to carry, and feuille, a leaf, L. folium.] 1. A portable case of the form of a large book, for holding loose drawings, prints, papers, &c.-2. Fig. the office and functions of a minister of state; as, he holds the portfolio of education, that is, has, as it were, all the papers connected with this department; he has received the portfolio of the home department. Portglave, t Portglaivet (port'glav), n. [Fr. porter, to carry, and glaive, a sword. See GLAIVE.] A sword-bearer.

Portgrave, Portgreve (port'grāv, port'grev), n. [From A. Sax. port (L. portus), a harbour, and gerefa, a reeve or sheriff.] Same as Portreeve. Port-hole (port'hōl), n. 1. A square aperture in a ship's side, especially one of the apertures through which the guns are fired.

The gallant ship, surrounded by enemies, lay like a great fortress on the sea, scattering death on every side from her hundred and four port-holes. Macaulay. 2. In steam-engines, one of the steam-passages Port-hook (port'hök), n. into or from the cylinder. See PORT.

One of the hooks in the side of a ship to which the hinges of a port-lid are hooked.

Portico (por'ti-kō), n. pl. Porticoes (pōr'ti-köz). [It. and Sp. portico, from L. porticus. See PORCH.] In arch. an open space covered by a roof supported on columns, sometimes detached, as a shady walk, but in modern usage a kind of porch before the entrance of a building fronted with columns. Porticoes are called tetrastyle, hexastyle, octostyle, and decastyle, according as they have four, six, eight, or ten columns in front; they are also distinguished as prostyle or in antis, as they project before or recede within the building.

On sumptuous baths the rich their wealth bestow, Or some expensive airy portico. Dryden. Porticoed (pōr'ti-kōd), a. Having a portico or porticoes.

Portière (port-yer), n. [Fr.] A door-curtain. Portigue (por'ti-gu), n. See PORTAGUE. Portingal (por'tin-gal), a. Portuguese. Portingall, Portugalt (por'tin-gal, portü-gal), n. A Portuguese. Fanshawe; Beau. & Fl. Written also Portingale. Portio (por'shi-o), n. [L.] A portion or branch. In anat. applied to two nerves, portio dura and portio mollis, two branches of the seventh pair of nerves, the portio dura, or hard portion, being the facial nerve, the portio mollis, or soft portion, the auditory or acoustic nerve. Applied also to a small, white fasciculus, intermediate between the portio dura and the portio mollis. Portion (por'shon), n. [L. portio, portionis, a portion. Akin to pars, partis, a part, partior, to divide. See PART.] 1. A part of anything separated from it; that which is divided off, as a part from a whole.2. A part, though not actually divided, but considered by itself.

These are parts of his ways: but how little a por tion is heard of him? Job xxvi. 14.

All things are taken from us, and become Portions and parcels of the dreadful Past. Tennyson. 3. A part assigned; an allotment.

The priests had a portion assigned them by Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave

them.

Gen. xlvii. 22.

Hence 4. Fate; final state. And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites.' Mat. xxiv. 51.5. The part of an estate given to a child or heir, or descending to him by law, and distributed to him in the settlement of the estate.-6. A wife's fortune; a dowry.

I give my daughter to him, and will make
Her portion equal his.
Shak.

SYN. Division, share, parcel, quantity, allotment, dividend.

Portion (por'shon), v. t. 1.To divide or distribute into portions or shares; to parcel; to allot in shares. And portion to his tribes the wide domain.' Pope.

A friendship so complete, Portion'd in halves between us that we grew The fable of the city where we dwelt. Tennyson. 2. To endow with a portion or an inheritance. 'Portion'd maids, apprenticed orphans." Pope.

Portioner (por'shon-er), n. 1. One who divides or assigns in shares.-2. In Scots law, (a) the proprietor of a small feu or portion of land. (b) The sub-tenant of a feu; an under-feuar. -Heirs portioners, two or more females who succeed jointly to heritable estate in default