porter

plural porters

1. A person who carries luggage and related objects; (historically) one who carried luggage or did manual labour in the transloading of cargo.

   goods porter

   5 more examples

   By the time I reached the train station I was exhausted, but fortunately there was a porter waiting.

   Achilles! a drayman, a porter, a very camel.

   c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]

   the unsmotherable delight of all the porters and by - standers

   1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “(please specify the chapter name)”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC

   The man who carries your luggage at the station is a "red cap", not a porter. The Canadian porter is the man who makes up the beds in the sleeping cars.

   1954 February, Trevor Holloway, “Canada's Transcontinental Routes”, in Railway Magazine, page 130

   As soon as we had come to a stand in Kamina Station, a swarm of porters pushed their way into the compartment to get my luggage. I selected one, and ordered the others out, and then detrained.

   1958 February 28, Arthur F. Beckenham, “A Journey in the Belgian Congo”, in Railway Magazine, page 125

2. biologyAn ant having the specialized role of carrying.
3. computingOne who ports software (makes it usable on another platform).

   […] useful only if you are a Perl porter or implementor and you want to check the efficiency of the hashing algorithm.

   1998, Michael McMillan, Perl from the Ground Up, page 45

plural porters

1. countableA person in control of the entrance to a building.
2. countablebowlingAn employee who clears and cleans tables and puts bowling balls away.
3. countableuncountablebeerA strong, dark ale, originally favored by porters (etymology 1, sense 1), similar to a stout but less strong.
4. IrelandcountableuncountablebeerStout (malt brew).

   ‘Here, Pat, give us a g.p., like a good fellow.’ The curate brought him a glass of plain porter. The man drank it at a gulp and asked for a caraway seed.

   1904–1907 (date written), James Joyce, “Counterparts”, in Dubliners, London: Grant Richards, published June 1914, →OCLC, page 107

present singular third person porters · participle present portering · participle past portered · past portered

1. To serve as a porter; to carry.

plural Porters

1. countableuncountableA surname originating as an occupation.

   "What do you say to the 40 percent of California voters, who you'll need in order to win, who voted for (President Donald) Trump?" Watts asked. Then Porter said, "How would I need them in order to win, ma'am?" expressing some level of disapproval with the question while letting out a laugh.

   2025 October 8, Jay Stahl, “Katie Porter goes viral again. This time, for berating a reporter.”, in USA Today

   1 more example

   The pixels’ use in a taxpayer context resulted in the “reckless” sharing of legally protected data that could put taxpayers at risk, according to the report by Warren and her Democratic colleagues Sens. Ron Wyden; Richard Blumenthal; Tammy Duckworth; and Sheldon Whitehouse; Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats; and Democratic Rep. Katie Porter.

   2023 July 12, Brian Fung, “Tax prep companies shared private taxpayer data with Google and Meta for years, congressional probe finds”, in CNN

2. countableuncountableA unisex given name.
3. A placename in the United States:
   1. countableuncountableA town in Westchester Township, Porter County, Indiana.
   2. countableuncountableA town and village in Oxford County, Maine.
   3. countableuncountableA minor city in Yellow Medicine County and Lincoln County, Minnesota.
   4. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Scott County, Missouri.
   5. countableuncountableA town in Niagara County, New York, named after Augustus Porter.
   6. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Gallia County, Ohio.
   7. countableuncountableA town in Wagoner County, Oklahoma.
   8. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Texas.
   9. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Clay County, West Virginia.
   10. countableuncountableA town in Rock County, Wisconsin.
   11. countableuncountableA number of townships in the United States, listed under Porter Township.
   12. abbreviationcountableellipsisuncountableEllipsis of Porter County.
   13. abbreviationcountableellipsisuncountableEllipsis of Porter Crater.