A laptop docking station, also known as a "dock" can be used to combine many cables into a single connection to your laptop. Docks range from simple USB Hubs to large hubs that contain many different kinds of ports.
This guide will cover ThunderBolt docks. Both the laptop and dock must support the ThunderBolt protocol to benefit from this technology. Look for a lightning icon on both the connector and port to ensure the protocol is supported. If only one of the devices supports ThunderBolt, you will have varied results.