n. & v.
n. 1 a long slender rounded piece of wood or metal, esp. with the end placed in the ground as a support etc. 2 a wooden shaft fitted to the front of a vehicle and attached to the yokes or collars of the draught animals. 3 = PERCH(1).
v.tr. 1 provide with poles. 2 (usu. foll. by off) push off (a punt etc.) with a pole. pole position the most favourable position at the start of a motor race (orig. next to the inside boundary-fence). pole-vault (or -jump) n. the athletic sport of vaulting over a high bar with the aid of a long flexible pole held in the hands and giving extra spring.
v.intr. take part in this sport. pole-vaulter a person who pole-vaults. under bare poles Naut. with no sail set. up the pole sl. 1 crazy, eccentric. 2 in difficulty.
[ OE pal ult. f. L palus stake ]