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polestar

[pohl-stahr]
noun
  1. Polaris.
  2. something that serves as a guiding principle.
  3. something that is the center of attention or attraction.
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Origin of polestar

First recorded in 1545–55; pole2 + star
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for pole-star

Historical Examples

  • I knew that constellation, for by it one of the men had taught me to find the pole-star.

    Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood

    George MacDonald

  • He clung to all three, he grappled them to him; they were his sheet-anchor and his pole-star.

    The Scapegoat

    Hall Caine

  • Some duties are so clear that they shine like the pole-star which guides the mariner.

    The Faith Doctor

    Edward Eggleston

  • Let the constitution be the pole-star to direct you: without it there can be no happiness for you nor for us.

  • It is used, in a figurative sense, as synonymous with pole-star, or guide.

    A Treatise on Domestic Economy

    Catherine Esther Beecher

Word Origin and History for pole-star

n.

the North Star (see Polaris), 1550s, from pole (n.2) + star (n.).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper