How to ping and test for a specific port from Linux or Unix command line

Originally published at: https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/ping-test-a-specific-port-of-machine-ip-address-using-linux-unix/

I wanted to see if a specific port of a desktop computer or server is open from a Linux or Unix command line shell. How do I ping a specific port? Is it possible possible to ping an 192.168.1.254:80 or 192.168.1.254:23 ports?