I. ˈpōl noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English pāl pole, stake, from Latin palus stake; akin to Latin pangere to fasten — more at pact
1.
a. : a long comparatively slender usually cylindrical piece of wood or timber (as the stem of a small tree stripped of its branches)
b. : a similar typically cylindrical piece of metal or other substance
2. : a pole of a specified nature and use: as
a. : an upright column to the top of which something is affixed or by which something is supported
a birdhouse set on a pole
telephone poles
a tent pole
b. : a long slender stick or staff manipulated by hand
vault with a pole
a boatman's pole
c. : one used as the handle of an implement
the pole of a harpoon
d. : an upright mast in a firehouse by which one may slide from one story to a lower story
e. : an upper part of the mast of a ship
f. : ski pole
g. : one of several distance markers placed 1/8 mile apart on the inner rail of a racetrack
h. : a shaft usually of wood which extends from the front axle of a wagon between wheelhorses and by which the wagon is held back : tongue
i. : a short striped column used as a sign by tradesmen ; specifically : barber pole
j. : a usually horizontal bar or rod from which something may be hung
a curtain pole
k. : totem pole
l. : flagpole
m. : a stick usually of a specified length used for measuring
3.
a. : a unit of length varying from one locality to another ; especially : one measuring 16 1/2 feet — compare perch , rod
b. : a unit of area equal to a square rod or perch : one measuring 30 1/4 square yards
plots of ground averaging about ten poles each — John Galsworthy
4. : the tail of various birds and animals ; especially : the tail of an otter
5. : the flowering stalk of a plant of the genus Agave (as the sisal)
6. : a tree having a breast-high diameter of from 4 to 12 inches
7. : the inside position on a racetrack
8. usually capitalized : qutb
•
- under bare poles
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
transitive verb
1. : to furnish with poles for support
peas were brushed … gourds poled — Nora Waln
2. : to strike with a pole ; especially : to hit or pierce with the end of a carriage pole
3. : to act upon with a pole (as in stirring or pushing)
4. : to impel or push (as a boat or raft) by means of a pole
never pole a boat from the bow — H.A.Calahan
a canoe … poled by two men — McClure's
5. : to convey (as hay or reeds) on poles
pole hay into a barn
6. : to hit (as a home run) with a free powerful swing of a baseball bat
poled his twelfth home run in the sixth inning — New York Herald Tribune
7. : to subject (metal) to the operation of poling
8. : to remove dew from (as grass on a putting green) with a long slender pole
9. : forepole I
intransitive verb
1. : to propel a boat with a pole
poled up the sheltered creek — Cameron Hawley
poled cautiously through the shallows — Francis Birtles
2. Australia : sponge , impose — usually used with on
3. : flower — used of a plant of the genus Agave
4. : to use one's ski poles to gain additional speed
poled vigorously down the slope
III. adjective
1. : of or relating to a long slender cylindrical piece of wood or other pole
2.
a. : made of poles
pole bridge
pole fence
b. : having a foundation made of piles or poles stuck into the ground
pole barn
pole cabin
3. : attached to the end of a pole
pole hook
pole net
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English pool, from Latin polus, from Greek polos pivot, axis, pole; akin to Greek kyklos circle, wheel — more at wheel
1.
a. : either extremity of an axis of a sphere
b. : one of the two extremities of the earth's axis — called also geographical pole ; see north pole , south pole
2. : something held to resemble a physical pole: as
a. : either of two opposites (as principles, ideas, or factors) forming part of the same system
oscillations of the … national mind between the poles of sentiment and intellect — René Wellek
the major poles of world power — Atlantic
b. : a point of guidance or attraction
a pole of attraction for all the peoples … under Communist oppression — European Federation Now
the poles around whom the discussion was supposed to revolve — D.W.Brogan
the pivot and pole of his life … was his mother — D.H.Lawrence
3. archaic : firmament , heavens, sky
when the night had veil'd the pole — William Blake
4.
a. : one of the two terminals of an electric cell, battery, or dynamo so related that if the two are connected by an external conductor an electric current will flow from the pole having the higher potential to the other — see negative pole , positive pole
b. : one of two or more regions in a magnetized body at which the magnetic flux density is more or less concentrated — see north pole , south pole
c. : a unit comprising the parts of a circuit breaker or switch that control one line of a circuit
5.
a. : either of two morphologically or physiologically differentiated areas in an organism, organ, or cell at opposite ends of an axis — see animal pole , vegetal pole
b. : an eminence, region, or point on a cell where an axis ends (as at the origin of a nerve cell process or the base of a flagellum)
c. : either end of the spindle in mitosis
6.
a. : the fixed point in a system of polar coordinates that serves as the origin
b. : one of the ends of the axis of a circle of a sphere
7.
a. : the normal to a plane of a crystal erected through the origin of coordinates
b.
(1) : the point on a unit sphere where a normal so erected intersects the sphere
(2) : the projection usually stereographic or gnomonic of such a point
8. : the center of a reflecting or refracting surface that is bounded by a circle
•
- poles apart
V. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
: to determine or mark the terminal polarities of (as a generator or transformer)
VI. noun
( -s )
Usage: capitalized
Etymology: German, of Slavic origin; akin to Polish Polak Pole
1. : a native or inhabitant of Poland ; especially : a member of the Slavic majority ethnic group of the Polish nation who is Polish-speaking and usually Roman Catholic
2. : a person of Polish descent : a descendant of natives of Poland
the clannish barriers which now separate the Pole, the largest minority, from the Southerner and the Negro — A.G.Mezerik
VII. noun
or pole position
Etymology: pole (I)
: the front-row position nearest the infield in the starting lineup of an automobile race
VIII. noun
Etymology: pole (IV)
1. : the point of origin of two tangents to a conic section that determine a polar
2. : a point at which a meromorphic function has infinity as a limit