totem pole


noun
  1. a pole or post carved and painted with totemic figures, erected by Indians of the northwest coast of North America, especially in front of their houses.

  2. a hierarchical system: the bureaucratic totem pole.

Origin of totem pole

1
First recorded in 1875–80

Words Nearby totem pole

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How to use totem pole in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for totem pole

totem pole

noun
  1. a pole carved or painted with totemic figures set up by certain North American Indians, esp those of the NW Pacific coast, within a village as a tribal symbol or, sometimes, in memory of a dead person

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

Cultural definitions for totem pole

totem pole

Among some Native Americans, a pole on which totems are carved. The totem pole usually stands in front of a house or shelter.

Notes for totem pole

A totem pole is thought of figuratively as a symbol (see also symbol) of a hierarchy: “Where does she stand on the totem pole?”

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.