: the whole architectural composition surrounding and including the doorways and porches of a church
3
: the approach or entrance to a bridge or tunnel
4
: a communicating part or area of an organism
specifically: the point at which something (such as a pathogen) enters the body
5
: a website serving as a guide or point of entry to the World Wide Web and usually including a search engine or a collection of links to other sites arranged especially by topic
Noun a Web portal for baseball fans the main portal to the estate is an elaborate wrought iron gate on the side facing the road
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
For both, the experience was a portal into the magical. Rosa Boshier, Washington Post, 11 Aug. 2022 His experience at Gap was a portal into learning about clothes and music. Liana Satenstein, Vogue, 3 Aug. 2022 Queens Lanka is a portal to another place, and a reminder of what is right in front of us. Hannah Goldfield, The New Yorker, 22 July 2022 Soon, the gang discovers a strange tunnel, which turns out to be a portal, that leads to Hotel Oblivion. Amy Mackelden, Harper's BAZAAR, 22 June 2022 The area is well-known for its spirituality, and it's even thought to be a portal to another dimension by some. Stacey Leasca, Travel + Leisure, 22 Apr. 2022 Could the Bermuda Triangle be a portal to another space and time? Ashley Stimpson, Popular Mechanics, 18 Apr. 2022 My phone was suddenly a portal for disruption and upset. Vicky Spratt, refinery29.com, 29 Mar. 2022 One of several channels that the US has used has been a portal that was set up in recent weeks where US officials can upload intelligence that the Ukrainians can then access in near real time, the first source said. Natasha Bertrand And Katie Bo Lillis, CNN, 4 Mar. 2022
Adjective
When Malloe accepted the UCLA job in December, Latu was already in the transfer portal, searching for another chance. Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2022 With Evans in the portal, only Johnson and Capers remain from that group. Tom Green | Tgreen@al.com, al, 7 Sep. 2022 On April 30, rising sophomore point guard Frankie Collins entered his name in the transfer portal after one season at Michigan. Michael Cohen, Detroit Free Press, 12 Aug. 2022 The fifth-year senior from Cleveland Brush, who stayed with the Buckeyes after taking a look in the transfer portal, showed up in a ketchup-and-mustard track suit. Nathan Baird, cleveland, 7 Aug. 2022 And though Arkansas lost all five starters from that team — and 10 of 14 lettermen — coach Eric Musselman reloaded in the transfer portal and on the recruiting trail. Brett Dawson, The Courier-Journal, 2 Aug. 2022 The Hurricanes lost some linebacker depth in the transfer portal since the start of last season. Adam Lichtenstein, Sun Sentinel, 31 July 2022 The former Oklahoma quarterback, who came to South Carolina in January, was a top-five transfer in the portal after passing for more than 4,500 yards and 40 touchdowns in 25 games with the Sooners. Usa Today Sports Network, USA TODAY, 7 July 2022 Paige Bueckers, Aaliyah Edwards, Nika Mühl, Dorka Juhász, Amari DeBerry and Piath Gabriel (now in the transfer portal) were there with balloons and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. Lila Bromberg, Hartford Courant, 25 May 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin portale city gate, porch, from neuter of portalis of a gate, from Latin porta gate — more at port
Adjective
New Latin porta transverse fissure of the liver, from Latin, gate