pole

1
[ pohl ]
See synonyms for pole on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a long, cylindrical, often slender piece of wood, metal, etc.: a telephone pole; a fishing pole.

  2. Northeastern U.S. a long, tapering piece of wood or other material that extends from the front axle of a vehicle between the animals drawing it.

  1. Nautical.

    • a light spar.

    • that part of a mast between the uppermost standing rigging and the truck.

  2. the lane of a racetrack nearest to the infield; the inside lane.: Compare post1 (def. 5).

  3. a unit of length equal to 16½ feet (5 meters); a rod.

  4. a square rod, 30¼ square yards (25.3 square meters).

verb (used with object),poled, pol·ing.
  1. to furnish with poles.

  2. to push, strike, or propel with a pole: to pole a raft.

  1. Baseball. to make (an extra-base hit) by batting the ball hard and far: He poled a triple to deep right-center.

  2. Metallurgy. to stir (molten metal, as copper, tin, or zinc) with poles of green wood so as to produce carbon, which reacts with the oxygen present to effect deoxidation.

verb (used without object),poled, pol·ing.
  1. to propel a boat, raft, etc., with a pole: to pole down the river.

Idioms about pole

  1. under bare poles,

    • Nautical. (of a sailing ship) with no sails set, as during a violent storm.

    • stripped; naked; destitute: The thugs robbed him and left him under bare poles.

Origin of pole

1
First recorded before 1050; Middle English pol(e), polle, Old English pāl, from Latin pālus “wooden post, stake”; see pale2

Other words from pole

  • poleless, adjective
  • un·poled, adjective

Other definitions for pole (2 of 4)

pole2
[ pohl ]

noun
  1. each of the extremities of the axis of the earth or of any spherical body.

  2. Astronomy. celestial pole.

  1. one of two opposite or contrasted principles or tendencies: His behavior ranges between the poles of restraint and abandon.

  2. a point of concentration of interest, attention, etc.:The beautiful actress was the pole of everyone's curiosity.

  3. Electricity, Magnetism. either of the two regions or parts of an electric battery, magnet, or the like, that exhibits electrical or magnetic polarity.

  4. Cell Biology.

    • either end of an ideal axis in a nucleus, cell, or ovum, about which parts are more or less symmetrically arranged.

    • either end of a spindle-shaped figure formed in a cell during mitosis.

    • the place at which a cell extension or process begins, as a nerve cell axon or a flagellum.

  5. Mathematics.

    • a singular point at which a given function of a complex variable can be expanded in a Laurent series beginning with a specified finite, negative power of the variable.

  6. Crystallography. a line perpendicular to a crystal face and passing through the crystal center.

Origin of pole

2
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English pol(e), polus, from Latin polus, from Greek pólos “pivot, axis, pole”

Other definitions for Pole (3 of 4)

Pole1
[ pohl ]

noun
  1. a native or inhabitant of Poland.

Other definitions for Pole (4 of 4)

Pole2
[ pohl ]

noun
  1. Reginald, 1500–58, English cardinal and last Roman Catholic archbishop of Canterbury.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use pole in a sentence

  • Bige poled our craft out toward the center of the pond while I strung up my rod and put a white miller on the end of the leader.

    Lost Pond | Henry Abbott
  • By good management, however, it was brought safely to the Maumee, up whose sluggish waters the bateaux were laboriously poled.

    The Old Northwest | Frederic Austin Ogg
  • Sam took an oar and slowly poled inshore, while I stood up on a seat to watch for fish.

    Tales of Fishes | Zane Grey
  • But some time elapsed and we had poled to within a few rods of the mangroves before I really caught sight of our coveted quarry.

    Tales of Fishes | Zane Grey
  • So we shall just go up with the wind, or be poled up when there is none, if we aren't tied up under the bank.

    Bella Donna | Robert Hichens

British Dictionary definitions for pole (1 of 4)

pole1

/ (pəʊl) /


noun
  1. a long slender usually round piece of wood, metal, or other material

  2. the piece of timber on each side of which a pair of carriage horses are hitched

  1. another name for rod (def. 7)

  2. horse racing, mainly US and Canadian

    • the inside lane of a racecourse

    • (as modifier): the pole position

    • one of a number of markers placed at intervals of one sixteenth of a mile along the side of a racecourse

  3. nautical

    • any light spar

    • the part of a mast between the head and the attachment of the uppermost shrouds

  4. under bare poles nautical (of a sailing vessel) with no sails set

  5. up the pole British, Australian and NZ informal

    • slightly mad

    • mistaken; on the wrong track

verb
  1. (tr) to strike or push with a pole

  2. (tr)

    • to set out (an area of land or garden) with poles

    • to support (a crop, such as hops or beans) on poles

  1. (tr) to deoxidize (a molten metal, esp copper) by stirring it with green wood

  2. to punt (a boat)

Origin of pole

1
Old English pāl, from Latin pālus a stake, prop; see pale ²

British Dictionary definitions for pole (2 of 4)

pole2

/ (pəʊl) /


noun
  1. either of the two antipodal points where the earth's axis of rotation meets the earth's surface: See also North Pole, South Pole

  2. astronomy short for celestial pole

  1. physics

    • either of the two regions at the extremities of a magnet to which the lines of force converge or from which they diverge

    • either of two points or regions in a piece of material, system, etc, at which there are opposite electric charges, as at the two terminals of a battery

  2. maths an isolated singularity of an analytical function

  3. biology

    • either end of the axis of a cell, spore, ovum, or similar body

    • either end of the spindle formed during the metaphase of mitosis and meiosis

  4. physiol the point on a neuron from which the axon or dendrites project from the cell body

  5. either of two mutually exclusive or opposite actions, opinions, etc

  6. geometry the origin in a system of polar or spherical coordinates

  7. any fixed point of reference

  8. poles apart or poles asunder having widely divergent opinions, tastes, etc

  9. from pole to pole throughout the entire world

Origin of pole

2
C14: from Latin polus end of an axis, from Greek polos pivot, axis, pole; related to Greek kuklos circle

British Dictionary definitions for Pole (3 of 4)

Pole1

/ (pəʊl) /


noun
  1. a native, inhabitant, or citizen of Poland or a speaker of Polish

British Dictionary definitions for Pole (4 of 4)

Pole2

/ (pəʊl) /


noun
  1. Reginald. 1500–58, English cardinal; last Roman Catholic archbishop of Canterbury (1556–58)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for pole

pole

[ pōl ]


    • Either of the points at which an axis that passes through the center of a sphere intersects the surface of the sphere.

    • The fixed point used as a reference in a system of polar coordinates. It corresponds to the origin in the Cartesian coordinate system.

    • Geography Either of the points at which the Earth's axis of rotation intersects the Earth's surface; the North Pole or South Pole.

    • Either of the two similar points on another planet.

  1. Physics A magnetic pole.

  2. Electricity Either of two oppositely charged terminals, such as the two electrodes of an electrolytic cell or the electric terminals of a battery.

    • Either of the two points at the extremities of the axis of an organ or body.

    • Either end of the spindle formed in a cell during mitosis.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Other Idioms and Phrases with pole

pole

see low man on the totem pole; not touch with a ten-foot pole.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.