Port
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land. Port locations are selected to optimize access to land and navigable water, for commercial demand, and for shelter from wind and waves. Ports with deeper water are rarer, but can handle larger, more economical ships. Since ports throughout history handled every kind of traffic, support and storage facilities vary widely, may extend for miles, and dominate the local economy. Some ports have an important military role.
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Famous quotes containing the word port:
“The very best place to be in all the world is St. Marys parish, Jamaica. And the best spot in St. Marys is Port Maria, though all of St. Marys is fine. Old Maker put himself to a lot of trouble to make that part of the island of Jamaica, for everything there is perfect.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (18911960)
“Through the port comes the moon-shine astray!
It tips the guards cutlass and silvers this nook;
But twill die in the dawning of Billys last day.
A jewel-block theyll make of me to-morrow,
Pendant pearl from the yard-arm-end
Like the ear-drop I gave to Bristol Molly
O, tis me, not the sentence theyll suspend.”
—Herman Melville (18191891)
“The triumphs of peace have been in some proximity to war. Whilst the hand was still familiar with the sword-hilt, whilst the habits of the camp were still visible in the port and complexion of the gentleman, his intellectual power culminated; the compression and tension of these stern conditions is a training for the finest and softest arts, and can rarely be compensated in tranquil times, except by some analogous vigor drawn from occupations as hardy as war.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (18031882)