Port"mote` (?), n. In old English law, a court, or mote, held in a port
town. [Obs.] Blackstone.
Por"toir (?), n. [OF., fr. porter to bear.] One who, or that which,
bears; hence, one who, or that which, produces. [Obs.]
Branches . . . which were portoirs, and bare grapes.
Holland.
Por"toise (?), n. [Perhaps fr. OF. porteis portative, portable.]
(Naut.) The gunwale of a ship.
To lower the yards a-portoise, to lower them to the gunwale. -- To ride
a portoise, to ride an anchor with the lower yards and topmasts struck
or lowered, as in a gale of wind.