英文字典中文字典Word104.com

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Portal \Por"tal\, a. (Anat.)
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.
[1913 Webster]

Note: Portal is applied to other veins which break up into
capillaries; as, the renal portal veins in the frog.
[1913 Webster]


Portal \Por"tal\, n. [OF. portal, F. portail, LL. portale, fr.
L. porta a gate. See {Port} a gate.]
1. A door or gate; hence, a way of entrance or exit,
especially one that is grand and imposing.
[1913 Webster]

Thick with sparkling orient gems
The portal shone. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]

From out the fiery portal of the east. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]

2. (Arch.)
(a) The lesser gate, where there are two of different
dimensions.
(b) Formerly, a small square corner in a room separated
from the rest of the apartment by wainscoting, forming
a short passage to another apartment.
(c) 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.
[1913 Webster]

3. (Bridge Building) The space, at one end, between opposite
trusses when these are terminated by inclined braces.
[1913 Webster]

4. A prayer book or breviary; a portass. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]

{Portal bracing} (Bridge Building), a combination of struts
and ties which lie in the plane of the inclined braces at
a portal, serving to transfer wind pressure from the upper
parts of the trusses to an abutment or pier of the bridge.
[1913 Webster]