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• pole
  pole

  noun

  a long, cylindrical, often slender piece of wood, metal, etc..
• Pole
  Pole

  noun

  a native or inhabitant of Poland.

pole

¹ American  

[pohl] / poʊl /

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.

3. Nautical.

   1. a light spar.

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

4. the lane of a racetrack nearest to the infield; the inside lane.

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

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

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verb (used with object)

• poles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• poled,
  past participle,  past
• poling
  present participle

1. to furnish with poles.

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

   to pole a raft.

3. Baseball. to make (an extra-base hit) by batting the ball hard and far.

   He poled a triple to deep right-center.

4. 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)

• poles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• poled,
  past participle,  past
• poling
  present participle

1. to propel a boat, raft, etc., with a pole.

   to pole down the river.

idioms

1. under bare poles,

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

   2. stripped; naked; destitute.

      The thugs robbed him and left him under bare poles.

pole ² American  

[pohl] / poʊl /

noun

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

2. Astronomy. celestial pole.

3. one of two opposite or contrasted principles or tendencies.

   His behavior ranges between the poles of restraint and abandon.

4. a point of concentration of interest, attention, etc..

   The beautiful actress was the pole of everyone's curiosity.

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

6. Cell Biology.

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

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

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

7. Mathematics.

   1. 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.

   2. origin.

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

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idioms

1. poles apart / asunder, having widely divergent or completely opposite attitudes, interests, etc..

   In education and background they were poles apart.

Pole ³ American  

[pohl] / poʊl /

noun

1. a native or inhabitant of Poland.

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Pole ⁴ American  

[pohl] / poʊl /

noun

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

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Pole ¹ British  

/ pəʊl /

noun

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

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pole ² British  

/ 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

3. physics

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

   2. 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

4. maths an isolated singularity of an analytical function

5. biology

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

   2. either end of the spindle formed during the metaphase of mitosis and meiosis

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

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

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

9. any fixed point of reference

10. having widely divergent opinions, tastes, etc

11. throughout the entire world

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pole ³ British  

/ 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

3. another name for rod

4. horse racing

   1. the inside lane of a racecourse

   2. ( as modifier )

      the pole position

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

5. nautical

   1. any light spar

   2. the part of a mast between the head and the attachment of the uppermost shrouds

6. nautical (of a sailing vessel) with no sails set

7. informal

   1. slightly mad

   2. mistaken; on the wrong track

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verb

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

2. (tr)

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

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

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

4. to punt (a boat)

Pole ⁴ British  

/ pəʊl /

noun

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

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pole Scientific  

/ pōl /

1. Mathematics

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

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

2. Geography

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

   2. Either of the two similar points on another planet.

3. Physics A magnetic pole.

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

5. Biology

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

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

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pole More Idioms  

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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• poleless
  adjective
• unpoled
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• poling
  present
• poled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• pole
  simple
• poles
  simple
• have poled
  perfect
• has poled
  perfect
• am poling
  progressive
• are poling
  progressive
• is poling
  progressive
• have been poling
  perfect progressive
• has been poling
  perfect progressive

Past

• poled
  simple
• had poled
  perfect
• was poling
  progressive
• were poling
  progressive
• had been poling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will pole
  simple
• will have poled
  perfect
• will be poling
  progressive
• will have been poling
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of pole¹

First recorded before 1050; Middle English pol(e), polle, Old English pāl, from Latin pālus “wooden post, stake”; see pale ²

Origin of pole²

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

Explanation

A pole is a rounded stick or rod, usually made of wood, plastic, or metal. You need a pole for hanging a flag, catching fish, or setting up a tent. There are many kinds of poles, from the poles skiers use to balance and push themselves forward to the long, flexible pole a pole vaulter uses to help her jump over a high bar. When someone mentions the North or South Pole, they mean the points on either side of the Earth that mark the ends of its axis of rotation. This kind of pole comes from the Latin polus, "end of an axis" or "the heavens."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pole Pole poles poled poling

Chevron’s pole position garnered it some measure of political esteem in Washington and Caracas.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

Ever since a pole snapped in high winds and sparked the biggest wildfire in Texas history, Salem Abraham has been studying the metal tags that show when poles were last inspected.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

This is roughly analogous to me asserting that running headfirst into a telephone pole at a full sprint will not affect my health because I do not “intend” to concuss myself.

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

Martens, who was on pole position after qualifying, was the final driver to be passed as Verstappen completed his challenge with 40 minutes and 21 laps to spare.

From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026

When she was out, she lifted the end of the ladder with a pole and draped it over a convenient branch.

From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer

Pole vault world record holder Duplantis was named as the inaugural 'Ultimate Star' last summer and has collaborated on the official anthem for the championship, Gold, which he has written and performed.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

The scientists then modeled conditions in three locations near the lunar South Pole -- Nobile Rim, Connecting Ridge, and De Gerlache Rim.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026

Three British nationals, a Palestinian, a Pole and a dual US-Canadian citizen were also killed in the attack.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

The Arctic is warming several times faster than the global average, a phenomenon known as "Arctic amplification" -- and the effects aren't confined to the North Pole.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

It's like saying that come Christmas, a magic dustpan flies in from the North Pole, led by eight flying cinder blocks.

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris

In some cases, the poles had been in service since 1936.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

“Suddenly we’re seeing poles being replaced in our area everywhere,” Borger said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

Over the past two years, he has driven hundreds of miles crisscrossing the region, through back alleys and along highways to tally the condition of poles.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

As part of a temporary injunction, Xcel agreed to inspect 35,000 wooden poles a year in Texas and replace the most damaged poles as quickly as one day after inspection.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

All around her, Natalie recognized the familiar palm trees and traffic light poles of the six-lane Okeechobee Road.

From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz

The crystals used in the experiments were carefully grown and then exposed to the electric field, or "poled," by Raffi Sahul at Amphenol Corporation.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 11, 2026

As we poled over to retrieve it, Pastrana pointed out a good-size fish by the mangroves to the left.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 1, 2022

“We always had a southern swamp opening, lots of hanging Spanish moss ... one number, she entered on a raft poled by one of the dancers across a dry ice stage.”

From The Guardian ● Oct. 17, 2018

Steamboats could travel faster and more cheaply than sailing vessels or keelboats, which floated downriver and had to be poled or towed upriver on the return voyage.

From Textbooks ● Dec. 30, 2014

The men poled the chunks away with their oars as well as they could, but the danger of being “holed” by ice was too great.

From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong

The spokesperson said they were working "to overcome additional challenges such as secondary damages and additional poling and cabling work in some areas".

From BBC ● Feb. 17, 2025

These shorter wavelengths are achieved when the trapped light in the cavity undergoes a process called all-optical poling, which induces what is known as second-order nonlinearity in the silicon nitride.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 8, 2023

In the famous painting “Washington Crossing the Delaware,” by Emanuel Leutze, there, at George Washington’s right knee, is a Marblehead Mariner vigorously poling the general on to victory at Trenton.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 9, 2021

Out on the trails again Mr. Cunningham introduced us to yet another poling technique, this one for climbing, called “offset.”

From New York Times ● Nov. 20, 2014

A bargeman, poling away from the shore, found Chicken late that afternoon stuck in some rocks and weeds, his knickers ballooning about his legs.

From "Sula" by Toni Morrison

Related Words

• beam
• flagpole
• leg
• mast
• rod
• stick