porn

Shortening of pornography. Attested from mid-20th century.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pɔːn/
• (US) IPA^(key): /pɔɹn/
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)n
• Homophone: pawn (in non-rhotic accents)

porn (usually uncountable, plural porns)

1. (uncountable, informal) Pornography. [from the mid-20th c.]

   Synonyms: erotica, filth, smut

   I just delete the porn before someone else uses the computer.

   • 2013 August 26, admin, “Porn, Pseudoscience and DeltaFosB”, in Your Brain On Porn‎, retrieved 2014-04-29:

     The obvious question is: "At what point does porn use become pathological (i.e., an addiction)?" The answer is simple: "Whenever the amount of stimulation induces the accumulation of ΔFosB and corresponding addiction-related brain changes."

2. (countable, informal, chiefly in the plural) A pornographic work.

   Synonyms: adult movie, blue movie, dirty movie, X-rated movie, skin flick, stag movie

   • 1982, Florence King, “When Sisterhood Was in Flower”, reprinted in The Florence King Reader, Macmillan (1996), →ISBN, page 181:

     There are anywhere from ten to twelve chapters in the average porn, so that many blank pages can be inserted.

   • 2000, Dennis Cooper, Period, Grove Press (2001), →ISBN, page 33:

     — I’ve got it at home. Anyway, there was this gap between the final two porns.

   • a. 2004, anonymous study participant, quoted in Todd G. Morrison, “‘He was Treating Me Like Trash, and I Was Loving It . . .’: Perspectives on Gay Male Pornography”, in Todd G. Morrison (editor), Eclectic Views on Gay Male Pornography: Pornucopia (co-published as Journal of Homosexuality, Volume 47, Numbers 3/4), Psychology Press (2004), →ISBN, page 179:

     I remember once watching a porn with some friends of mine […]

3. (uncountable, informal) Material, usually visual, presenting something desirable in a lurid, garish, or sensational manner.

   car porn

   gun porn

   food porn

   • 2011, Michael K. Thomas, “The utility and efficacy of qualitative research software in grounded theory research”, in Vivian B. Martin & Astrid Gynnild, editors, Grounded Theory: The Philosophy, Method, and Work of Barney Glaser, →ISBN, page 140:

     Because software is particularly good at counting, it can be used to create wonderfully compelling visualizations of quantitative data. These can be so compelling that they have even been called “info porn” (see the periodic table of visualizations).

4. (uncountable, informal, often humorous) Material that provides illicit gratification of an obsessive or unhealthy interest in something.

• pornocracy

• pron

porn f (uncountable)

1. porn

porn (uncountable)

1. porn
   • 2012, Iain Connell, Robert Florence, Burnistoun, Episode #3.4 (DVD subtitles)

     See, in the hospital before he died, ma da told me he kept his porn stash up there.