Portal
['pɔːt(ə)l] or ['pɔrtl]
Definition
(noun.) a grand and imposing entrance (often extended metaphorically); 'the portals of the cathedral'; 'the portals of heaven'; 'the portals of success'.
Inputed by Angie--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) A door or gate; hence, a way of entrance or exit, especially one that is grand and imposing.
(n.) The lesser gate, where there are two of different dimensions.
(n.) Formerly, a small square corner in a room separated from the rest of the apartment by wainscoting, forming a short passage to another apartment.
(n.) By analogy with the French portail, used by recent writers for the whole architectural composition which surrounds and includes the doorways and porches of a church.
(n.) The space, at one end, between opposite trusses when these are terminated by inclined braces.
(n.) A prayer book or breviary; a portass.
(a.) Of or pertaining to a porta, especially the porta of the liver; as, the portal vein, which enters the liver at the porta, and divides into capillaries after the manner of an artery.
Typed by Dave
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Gate, gateway, entrance, passage-way.
Inputed by Cornelia
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Gate, entrance, gateway,[See ENTRANCE]
Inputed by Artie
Definition
n. a small gate: any entrance: (archit.) the arch over a gate: the lesser of two gates.—Portal circulation the capillary transmission of venous blood from one organ to another in its passage to the heart; Portal system the portal vein with its tributaries &c.; Portal vein the vein which conveys to the liver the venous blood from intestines spleen and stomach.
Inputed by Frieda
Examples
- Entering a portal, fastened only by a latch, I stood amidst a space of enclosed ground, from which the wood swept away in a semicircle. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- The lawn, the grounds were trodden and waste: the portal yawned void. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- For three days men crazed with fear have surged about this portal in vain attempts to solve its mystery. Edgar Rice Burroughs. A Princess of Mars.
- My fingers clawed futilely at the unyielding portal, while my eyes sought in vain for a duplicate of the button which had given us ingress. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- They passed across the lawn, out through a portal in the garden wall. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Death is a vast portal, an high road to life: let us hasten to pass; let us exist no more in this living death, but die that we may live! Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- He had opened the portal and stood at it, waiting for me. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- I forgot him, as I swiftly darted through the open portal, and up the majestic stairs of this castle of victories--heard Adrian's voice--O fool! Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- The portal swung slowly in, and before it could be slammed against me I sprang into the chamber beyond. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- When Jane and Esmeralda found themselves safely behind the cabin door the Negress's first thought was to barricade the portal from the inside. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
- Who, standing in the portal, received them with ghostly gloom, and all her other appliances of ceremony. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- He beat furiously upon the heavy portal. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
- No youthful congregation of gallant-hearted boys thronged the portal of the college; sad silence pervaded the busy school-room and noisy playground. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- The hermit speedily unbolted his portal, and admitted Locksley, with his two companions. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- So there was splendour and wealth, but no great happiness perchance, behind the tall caned portals of Gaunt House with its smoky coronets and ciphers. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- About noon I dragged myself wearily to the portals of a huge building which covered perhaps four square miles and towered two hundred feet in the air. Edgar Rice Burroughs. A Princess of Mars.
- In the cab they continued to remain silent through the brief drive which carried them to the illuminated portals of the Stepneys' hotel. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- The massy portals of the churches swung creaking on their hinges; and some few lay dead on the pavement. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- It was now dusk, but the watchers at the gate saw the approaching trio and distinguished one as a prisoner ere they reached the portals. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
- Opening the gates I ordered the two great beasts to pass out, and then slipping quietly after them I closed the portals behind me. Edgar Rice Burroughs. A Princess of Mars.
- Dear brethren, let us tremble before those august portals. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- The portals of the great western front are bisected by square pillars. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- On they came to the portals of Kulonga's hut, the very one in which Tarzan had wrought his depredations. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
Inputed by Gracie