Word.ws English Dictionary

porterages

porterages is the plural of porterage.

Meaning of porterage

Noun (1)

porterage (countable and uncountable, plural porterages)

  1. (uncountable) The carrying or transportation of goods by a porter (“person who carries luggage and related objects”) or other person.
    • [T]he Gallant was ready punctually at his hour with three or four Porters, by the help of whom he quickly removed all the choice Goods or any that were worth Porterage to a place appointed.1680, [Francis Kirkman], “An Account and Character of Such who Went with Me in Our Voyage to a Plantation, […]”, in The English Rogue: Continued in the Life of Meriton Latroon, and Other...
    Synonyms:
    portage
  2. (uncountable) Porters regarded collectively.
    • He [George Mallory] went down with [Charles Granville] Bruce and [Andrew] Irvine that same day to Camp III, intent on investigating afresh with Bruce's aid the question of available porterage. It was found just possible to collect together sufficient men, who were not indisposed, to carry up oxygen...1925, N[oel] E[wart] Odell, “Mallory and Irvine’s Attempt”, in E[dward] F[elix] Norton et al., The Fight for Everest: 1924, London: Edward Arnold & Co., →OCLC, page 122
  3. (obsolete, rare, uncountable) Goods or other things which are carried; burdens.
    • Novv, the parts in man that may be called the Porters, and vvhich bear the burdens that are carried, can be no other than the Scapula, and its Acromion, vvhich is the part upon vvhich the burden is pitched; and the back bone vvhich is the part that gives the greateſt ſtrength tovvards the bearing...1666, John Smith, “[Ecclesiastes 12.] Verse 5.”, in Γηροκομία Βασιλικὴ [Gerokomia Basilike]: King Solomons Portraiture of Old Age. Wherein is Contained a Sacred Anatomy both of Soul and Body. […]...
  4. The charge for such carrying or transportation.
    • Boatage, and Porterage to the VVare-houſe1635, Richard Dafforne, “Here Followeth the Factor-book. Anno 1634. In Amsterdam.”, in The Merchants Mirrour: Or, Directions for the Perfect Ordering and Keeping of His Accounts; […], London: […] R....
    Synonyms:
    portage

Noun (2)

porterage (uncountable)

  1. The occupation of, or services provided by, a porter (“person in control of the entrance to a building”).
    • In rules of Porterage untaught, / Simplicity, not vvorth a groat, / For years had kept the Temple door; / Full on his breaſt a glaſs he vvore, / Thro' vvhich his boſom open lay / To ev'ry one vvho paſs'd that vvay.1764, C[harles] Churchill, “Book II”, in The Duellist. A Poem. […], London: […] G. Kearsly, […]; W. Flexney, […]; J. Coote, […]; C. Henderson, […]; J. Gardiner, […]; and J. Almon, […], →OCLC, pages...

Questions about porterages

What is porterages the plural of?
Porterages is the plural of porterage.

Words near porterages in the dictionary

  1. porter's knot
  2. porter's lodge
  3. Porter-Duff compositing
  4. Portera
  5. porterage
  6. porterages
  7. Porteras
  8. portered
  9. porteress
  10. porteresses
  11. Porterfield

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: porterages (page history and authors); porterage (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “porterages.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/porterages. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.