pole

[ pohl ]

/ poʊl /

noun

a long, cylindrical, often slender piece of wood, metal, etc.: a telephone pole; a fishing pole.

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.

Nautical.

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

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

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

a square rod, 30¼ square yards (25.3 sq. m).

verb (used with object), poled, pol·ing.

to furnish with poles.

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

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

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.

to propel a boat, raft, etc., with a pole: to pole down the river.

Origin of pole

before 1050; Middle English; Old English pāl < Latin pālus stake. See pale²

Related formspole·less, adjectiveun·poled, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for poling

Poling lives in the same house he grew up in which, though still unassuming from the street, is much bigger now.
Powerball Winners on Being Filthy Rich|Caitlin Dickson|November 27, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Suddenly, the medical bills that once plagued Poling were no longer an issue.
Powerball Winners on Being Filthy Rich|Caitlin Dickson|November 27, 2012|DAILY BEAST
What if, Poling asks, Jackson never reached the age of accountability?
Is Michael in Heaven?|Jason Boyett|July 10, 2009|DAILY BEAST
A cart has just gone past bearing a strange load among the carts of spring; they are talking of poling the hops.
Field and Hedgerow|Richard Jefferies

On the 2nd we were engaged in poling the canoes through the dangerous river, and in the operation two were capsized.
In Darkest Africa, Vol. 2; or, The quest, rescue and retreat of Emin, governor of Equatoria|Henry Morton Stanley
Those who have seen him poling cascos against the stream of the Pasig will admit this.
The Inhabitants of the Philippines|Frederic H. Sawyer
He was standing up in a flat-bottomed boat, poling down stream towards them, with the vigor and skill of a young Indian.
Mary Ware in Texas|Annie F. Johnston
He sat down, poling as well as he could from the new position.
The Lion's Share|E. Arnold Bennett

British Dictionary definitions for poling

Pole

/ (pəʊl) /

noun

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

Pole

/ (pəʊl) /

noun

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

pole

/ (pəʊl) /

noun

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

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

another name for rod (def. 7)

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

nautical

any light spar
the part of a mast between the head and the attachment of the uppermost shrouds

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

up the pole British, Australian and NZ informal

slightly mad
mistaken; on the wrong track

verb

(tr) to strike or push with a pole

(tr)

to set out (an area of land or garden) with poles
to support (a crop, such as hops or beans) on poles

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

to punt (a boat)

Word Origin for pole

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

pole

/ (pəʊl) /

noun

either of the two antipodal points where the earth's axis of rotation meets the earth's surfaceSee also North Pole, South Pole

astronomy short for celestial pole

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

maths an isolated singularity of an analytical function

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

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

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

geometry the origin in a system of polar or spherical coordinates

any fixed point of reference

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

from pole to pole throughout the entire world

Word Origin for pole

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

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

Word Origin and History for poling

pole

n.1

"stake," late Old English pal "stake, pole, post," a general Germanic borrowing (cf. Old Frisian and Old Saxon pal "stake," Middle Dutch pael, Dutch paal, Old High German pfal, Old Norse pall) from Latin palus "stake" (see pale (n.)).

Racing sense of "inside fence surrounding a course" is from 1851; pole position in auto racing attested from 1904. A ten-foot pole as a metaphoric measure of something one would not touch something (or someone) else with is by 1839, American English. The ten-foot pole was a common tool used to set stakes for fences, etc., and the phrase "Can't touch de bottom with a ten foot pole" is in the popular old minstrel show song "Camptown Races."

"I saw her eat."
"No very unnatural occurrence I should think."
"But she ate an onion!"
"Right my boy, right, never marry a woman who would touch an onion with a ten foot pole."
["The Collegian," University of Virginia, 1839]

pole

n.2

"ends of Earth's axis," late 14c., from Old French pole or directly from Latin polus "end of an axis;" also "the sky, the heavens" (a sense sometimes used in English from 16c.), from Greek polos "pivot, axis of a sphere, the sky," from PIE *kwolo- "turn round," from root *kwel- (see cycle (n.)).

Pole

"inhabitant or native of Poland," 1650s, from German Pole, singular of Polen, from Polish Poljane "Poles," literally "field-dwellers," from pole "field," related to Old Church Slavonic polje "field," from PIE root *pele- (2) "flat, to spread" (see plane (n.1)).

pole

"to furnish with poles," 1570s, from pole (n.1). Meaning "to push with a pole" is from 1753. Related: Poled; poling.

Medicine definitions for poling

pole

[ pōl ]

n.

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

Either extremity of an axis through a sphere.

Either of two oppositely charged terminals, as in an electric cell.

Science definitions for poling

pole

[ pōl ]

Mathematics

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.

GeographyEither 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.

Physics A magnetic pole.

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

Biology

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.

Idioms and Phrases with poling

pole

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

pole

noun

verb (used with object), poled, pol·ing.

verb (used without object), poled, pol·ing.

RELATED CONTENT

Nearby words

Idioms

Origin of pole

Examples from the Web for poling

Pole

noun

Pole

noun

pole

noun

verb

Word Origin for pole

pole

noun

Word Origin for pole

pole

pole

Pole

pole

pole

n.

pole

pole