flagpole
Americannoun
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flagpoles
plural
noun
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a pole or staff on which a flag is hoisted and displayed
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to pursue a tentative course of action in order to gauge the reaction it receives
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of flagpole
Explanation
A flagpole is a long bar that holds a cloth banner representing a country, state, school, or team. If you want to fly the Stars and Stripes on the Fourth of July, you'll need a flagpole! The word flagpole is pretty straightforward; it's a pole that supports a flag at the end of it. The flagpole on your grandparents' front porch might be five feet long and made of wood, while the aluminum flagpole in front of your school could be 30 feet tall. Before the Great Depression in the 1920s, flagpole-sitting (climbing to the top of a flagpole and staying there as long as possible) briefly became a popular fad.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The person was “armed” with a large flagpole and an unknown cylindrical object, the chief said, and was taken into custody after refusing officers’ commands to drop the items.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
On June 27, 2015, an activist named Bree Newsome climbed the 30-foot flagpole outside the South Carolina State House.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
At every new site, Corriveau and Corley installed a massive flagpole and flew the largest U.S. flag they could find, betting that people’s curiosity would lead them to Dave & Buster’s, McCleary said.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026
If you calculate the length of the flagpole to the bottom pennant, as some technicians do, the upside target would be about 7.4%.
From MarketWatch ● May 19, 2026
There was no one anywhere, come to that—no passing traffic, not a sound but the lazy clank of a metal ring knocking against the flagpole.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
Banned items include weapons, fireworks, flares, gas canisters, laser pens, camping chairs, umbrellas, flagpoles, air horns, megaphones, nitrous oxide, and excessive food and cigarettes security would think was more than "personal use".
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
The Interior Department, which oversees the National Park Service, said at the time that only the U.S. flag and other specially authorized flags can be flown on the park service’s flagpoles, with limited exceptions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 13, 2026
“Camping World has a habit of installing flagpoles that are quite large in size, but they do it without pulling permits on numerous occasions.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2024
Baker just wanted to make bunting, Segerblom said, but the parade organizers knew someone who had the keys to the flagpoles and suggested the decorations committee make use of them.
From Slate ● Jun. 19, 2024
The harpies fluttered after them, perching on trees, mailboxes, and flagpoles, following the smell of food.
From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
