PORTABLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does portable mean? 

• PORTABLE (noun)
  The noun PORTABLE has 1 sense:

1. a small light typewriter; usually with a case in which it can be carried

  Familiarity information: PORTABLE used as a noun is very rare.

• PORTABLE (adjective)
  The adjective PORTABLE has 2 senses:

1. easily or conveniently transported

2. of a motor designed to be attached to the outside of a boat's hull

  Familiarity information: PORTABLE used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PORTABLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A small light typewriter; usually with a case in which it can be carried

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("portable" is a kind of...):

typewriter (hand-operated character printer for printing written messages one character at a time)

Derivation:

portable (of a motor designed to be attached to the outside of a boat's hull)

portable (easily or conveniently transported)

• PORTABLE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Easily or conveniently transported

Context example:

a portable television set

Similar:

man-portable (portable by one man)

movable ((of personal property as opposed to real estate) can be moved from place to place (especially carried by hand))

take-away; takeout (of or involving food to be taken and eaten off the premises)

Antonym:

unportable (not portable; not easily moved or transported)

Derivation:

portability (the quality of being light enough to be carried)

portable (a small light typewriter; usually with a case in which it can be carried)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Of a motor designed to be attached to the outside of a boat's hull

Context example:

a portable outboard motor

Similar:

outboard (located away from the midline of a vessel or aircraft)

Derivation:

portable (a small light typewriter; usually with a case in which it can be carried)

 Context examples 

If you have a chronic problem, you may have a portable oxygen tank or a machine in your home.

(Oxygen Therapy, NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

I began to dispose of the more portable articles of property that very evening; and went out on a similar expedition almost every morning, before I went to Murdstone and Grinby's.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

With support from NSF through its Water and Environmental Technology Center, a team of University of Arizona researchers has created a simple, portable and inexpensive method for detecting extremely low levels of norovirus.

(Using a smartphone to detect norovirus, National Science Foundation)

Dr Hutton said six in ten of the children studied had their own smartphone or tablet, and four in ten had a television or portable device in their bedroom.

(Too Much Screen Time Changes Structure of Toddlers' Brains, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

But the great advantage of the coracle it certainly possessed, for it was exceedingly light and portable.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Many people with the disease use a portable glycosometer to measure blood glucose levels by pricking their fingertips to get a blood sample.

(Brazilian researchers eye biosensors to monitor diabetes, SciDev.Net)

A simple, portable test that can detect the deadliest of the mushroom poisons in minutes has been developed by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and their colleagues.

(New Test Identifies Poisonous Mushrooms, Agricultural Research Service)

In this sense, fast and portable diagnostic instruments for in situ analysis could provide a very interesting alternative to standard laboratories, reducing the need for costly infrastructure and applicable even in poorly-resourced areas.

(Scientists design platform to conduct chemical analysis using a smartphone, University of Granada)

EJB technology enables rapid and simplified development of distributed, transactional, secure and portable applications based on Java technology.

(Enterprise Java Bean, NCI Thesaurus)

These microscopes have bulky lenses and specialized optical components that are difficult to scale down and implement in a small, portable device.

(Smartphone microscope detects nanoparticles and viruses, NIH)