flagpole
Americannoun
-
flagpoles
plural
noun
-
a pole or staff on which a flag is hoisted and displayed
-
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:
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
The flagpole phase began with consecutive doji candles on March 12 and 13, signaling indecision before momentum resumed.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
“It was a flagpole type of moment,” Lalas said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 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
Like—oh, some account exec’ll say, “Here’s an idea. Let’s run it up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes it,” or “Put it on a bus and see if it gets off at Wall Street.”
From "Twelve Angry Men" by Reginald Rose
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
Now he’s installed two giant flagpoles, one on the North Lawn and the other on the South Lawn.
From Salon ● Jun. 19, 2025
Under new rules, Harrison said the Union flag and the county council's own flag would fly permanently on two of the three flagpoles outside County Hall.
From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2025
Last year, some county lifeguard stations didn’t fly the Pride flags because they didn’t have the right flagpoles to hold both that flag and the U.S. flag, according to the lawsuit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2024
We were like odd ruined flagpoles, bent double, with our bright clothes flapping.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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.
