O Henry - The Dictionary

por·ter 1 (pôr?t?r)n.1. A person employed to carry burdens, especially an attendant who carries travelers’ baggage at a hotel or transportation station.2. A railroad employee who waits on passengers in a sleeping car or parlor car.3. A maintenance worker for a building or institution.[Middle English portour, from Anglo-Norman, from Late Latin port?tor, from Latin port?re, to carry; see per- in Indo-European roots.]por·ter 2 (pôr?t?r)n. Chiefly British One in charge of a gate or door.[Middle English, from Anglo-Norman, from Late Latin port?rius, from Latin porta, gate; see per- in Indo-European roots.]por·ter 3 (pôr?t?r)n. A dark beer resembling light stout, made from malt browned or charred by drying at a high temperature.[Short for porter’s ale (probably so called because it was favored by laborers in the 1700s).]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.porter (?p??t?) n1. a person employed to carry luggage, parcels, supplies, etc, esp at a railway station or hotel2. (in hospitals) a person employed to move patients from place to place3. (Railways) US and Canadian a railway employee who waits on passengers, esp in a sleeper4. E African a manual labourer[C14: from Old French portour, from Late Latin port?t?r, from Latin port?re to carry]porter (?p??t?) n1. chiefly Brit a person in charge of a gate or door; doorman or gatekeeper2. a person employed by a university or college as a caretaker and doorkeeper who also answers enquiries3. a person in charge of the maintenance of a building, esp a block of flats4. (Roman Catholic Church) RC Church Also called: ostiary a person ordained to what was formerly the lowest in rank of the minor orders[C13: from Old French portier, from Late Latin port?rius doorkeeper, from Latin porta door]porter (?p??t?) n (Brewing) Brit a dark sweet ale brewed from black malt[C18: shortened from porter’s ale, apparently because it was a favourite beverage of porters]Porter (?p??t?) n1. (Biography) Cole. 1893?1964, US composer and lyricist of musical comedies. His most popular songs include Night and Day and Let’s do It2. (Biography) George, Baron Porter of Luddenham. 1920?2002, British chemist, who shared a Nobel prize for chemistry in 1967 for his work on flash photolysis3. (Biography) 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)4. (Biography) Peter. 1929?2010, Australian poet, lived in Britain5. (Biography) Rodney Robert. 1917?85, British biochemist: shared the Nobel prize for physiology or medicine 1972 for determining the structure of an antibody6. (Biography) William Sidney. original name of O. HenryCollins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014por?ter1 (?p?r t?r, ?po?r-) n. 1. a person hired to carry packages or baggage, as at a railroad station or a hotel. 2. a person who does cleaning and maintenance work in a building, factory, store, etc. 3. an attendant in a railroad parlor car or sleeping car. [1350?1400; Middle English, variant of portour