por|ter /pɔː r tə r / (porters )
1 N‑COUNT A porter is a person whose job is to be in charge of the entrance of a building such as a hotel. [BRIT ] in AM, use doorman 2 N‑COUNT A porter is a person whose job is to carry things, for example people's luggage at a railway station or in a hotel.
3 N‑COUNT A porter on a train is a person whose job is to make up beds in the sleeping car and to help passengers. [AM ] in BRIT, usually use attendant 4 N‑COUNT In a hospital, a porter is someone whose job is to move patients from place to place. [mainly BRIT ] in AM, usually use orderly
port|fo|lio /pɔː r tfoʊ lioʊ/ (portfolios )
1 N‑COUNT A portfolio is a set of pictures by someone, or photographs of examples of their work, which they use when entering competitions or applying for work. □ After dinner that evening, Edith showed them a portfolio of her own political cartoons.
2 N‑COUNT In finance, a portfolio is the combination of shares or other investments that a particular person or company has. [BUSINESS ] □ Short-term securities can also be held as part of an investment portfolio. □ …Roger Early, a portfolio manager at Federated Investors Corp.
3 N‑COUNT In politics, a portfolio is a minister's responsibility for a particular area of a government's activities. □ He has held the defence portfolio since the first free elections. ● PHRASE A minister without portfolio is a politician who is given the rank of minister without being given responsibility for any particular area of a government's activities. [FORMAL ]
4 N‑COUNT A company's portfolio of products or designs is their range of products or designs. [BUSINESS ]
port|hole /pɔː r thoʊl/ (portholes ) N‑COUNT A porthole is a small round window in the side of a ship or aircraft.
por|ti|co /pɔː r t I koʊ/ (porticoes or porticos ) N‑COUNT A portico is a large covered area at the entrance to a building, with pillars supporting the roof. [FORMAL ]
por|tion /pɔː r ʃ ə n/ (portions )
1 N‑COUNT A portion of something is a part of it. □ [+ of ] Damage was confined to a small portion of the castle. □ [+ of ] I have spent a fairly considerable portion of my life here. □ [+ of ] I had learnt a portion of the Koran.
2 N‑COUNT A portion is the amount of food that is given to one person at a meal. □ Desserts can be substituted by a portion of fresh fruit. □ The portions were generous.
port|ly /pɔː r tli/ (portlier , portliest ) ADJ [usu ADJ n] A portly person, especially a man, is rather fat. [FORMAL ]
po rt of ca ll (ports of call )
1 N‑COUNT A port of call is a place where a ship stops during a journey. □ Their first port of call will be Cape Town.
2 N‑COUNT A port of call is any place where you stop for a short time when you are visiting several places, shops, or people. [INFORMAL ] □ The local tourist office should be your first port of call in any town.
por|trait ◆◇◇ /pɔː r tre I t/ (portraits )
1 N‑COUNT A portrait is a painting, drawing, or photograph of a particular person. □ [+ of ] The artist was asked to paint a portrait of the Queen.
2 N‑COUNT A portrait of a person, place, or thing is a verbal description of them. □ [+ of ] …this gripping, funny portrait of Jewish life in 1950s London.
por|trait|ist /pɔː r tre I t I st/ (portraitists ) N‑COUNT A portraitist is an artist who paints or draws people's portraits. [FORMAL ]
por|trai|ture /pɔː r tr I tʃə r / N‑UNCOUNT Portraiture is the art of painting or drawing portraits. [FORMAL ]
por|tray /pɔː r tre I / (portrays , portraying , portrayed )
1 VERB When an actor or actress portrays someone, he or she plays that person in a play or film. □ [V n] In 1975 he portrayed the king in a Los Angeles revival of 'Camelot'. □ [V -ed] At first Glenn Miller, brilliantly portrayed by Jimmy Stewart, is sunk into gloom.
2 VERB When a writer or artist portrays something, he or she writes a description or produces a painting of it. □ [V n] …this northern novelist, who accurately portrays provincial domestic life. □ [V -ed] …the landscape as portrayed by painters such as Claude and Poussin.
3 VERB If a film, book, or television programme portrays someone in a certain way, it represents them in that way. □ [V n + as ] She says the programme portrayed her as a 'lady of easy virtue'. □ [be V -ed] …complaints about the way women are portrayed in adverts.
por|tray|al /pɔː r tre I əl/ (portrayals )
1 N‑COUNT [usu sing] An actor's portrayal of a character in a play or film is the way that he or she plays the character. □ [+ of ] …the intimate portrayal of Hitler in the film AFP Downfall.
2 N‑COUNT An artist's portrayal of something is a drawing, painting, or photograph of it. □ [+ of ] …a moving portrayal of St John the Evangelist by Simone Martini.
3 N‑COUNT [usu sing] The portrayal of something in a book or film is the act of describing it or showing it. □ [+ of ] This is a sensitive and often funny portrayal of a friendship between two 11-year-old boys.
4 N‑COUNT The portrayal of something in a book, film, or programme is the way that it is made to appear. □ [+ of ] The media persists in its portrayal of us as muggers, dope sellers and gangsters.