pole — English Dictionary

Noun

1. Originally, a stick; now specifically, a long and slender piece of metal or (especially) wood, used for various construction or support purposes.

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   For a spell we done pretty well. Then there came a reg'lar terror of a sou'wester same as you don't get one summer in a thousand, and blowed the shanty flat and ripped about half of the weir poles out of the sand.

   There she was, walking around with an IV pole, and we were only told that "Mommy isn't feeling so well, so she has to be connected to a special soda."

2. A construction by which an animal is harnessed to a carriage.

   Synonyms

   carriage polebeamshaftdrawbar

3. A type of basic fishing rod.

4. A long sports implement used for pole-vaulting; now made of glassfiber or carbon fiber, formerly also metal, bamboo and wood have been used.

5. A telescope used to identify birds, aeroplanes or wildlife.

   Usage

   • Slang

6. A unit of length, equal to a rod (¹⁄₄ chain or 5+¹⁄₂ yards).

   Usage

   • Historical

7. A rifle.

   Usage

   • US usage
   • Slang

8. A penis.

   Usage

   • Slang
   • Vulgar

9. A wicket, especially in the context of the number of wickets taken by a particular bowler.

   Usage

   • Slang

   Examples

   Only three cricketers have taken all 10 poles in a Test innings.

Verb

1. To propel by pushing with poles, to push with a pole.

   Examples

   Huck Finn poled that raft southward down the Mississippi because going northward against the current was too much work.

2. To identify something quite precisely using a telescope.

   Examples

   He poled off the serial of the Gulfstream to confirm its identity.

3. To furnish with poles for support.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   to pole beans or hops

4. To convey on poles.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   to pole hay into a barn

5. To stir, as molten glass, with a pole.

   Usage

   • Transitive

6. To strike (the ball) very hard.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   Long had poled the ball into the lower deck in right center.

7. To treat (copper) by blowing natural gas or other reducing agent through the molten oxide, burning off the oxygen.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   to pole copper

Noun

1. Either of the two points on the earth's surface around which it rotates; also, similar points on any other rotating object.

2. A point of magnetic focus, especially each of the two opposing such points of a magnet (designated north and south).

3. Any of a small set of extremes; especially, either of two extremes that are possible or available.

   Usage

   • broadly
   • Figurative

   Examples

   In discussing alternatives to the polar extremes, Professor Nguyen mentioned two poles of a filthy floor versus a sterile surgical site.

   More examples (1)

   Genuine music is the offspring of profound emotion: of exaltation, pain, or joy. Music produced outside of a situation between these poles of the human heart is of banal character, bloodless, watery.

4. A fixed point relative to other points or lines.

5. A contact on an electrical device (such as a battery) at which electric current enters or leaves.

6. For a meromorphic function f(z), any point a for which f(z)→∞ as z→a.

   Examples

   The function f(z)#61;#92;frac#123;1#125;#123;z-3#125; has a single pole at z#61;3.

7. The firmament; the sky.

   Usage

   • Obsolete

   Examples

   And the slope sun his upward beam / Shoots against the dusky pole,

8. Either of the states that characterize a bipolar disorder.

Verb

1. To induce piezoelectricity in (a substance) by aligning the dipoles.

   Usage

   • Transitive

Noun

1. a long (usually round) rod of wood or metal or plastic

   Broader terms

   rod

2. one of two divergent or mutually exclusive opinions

   Broader terms

   opinionsentimentpersuasionviewthought

   Examples

   they are at opposite poles

   they are poles apart

3. a linear measure of 16.5 feet

   Synonyms

   perchrod

   Broader terms

   linear unitlinear measure

4. a square rod of land

   Synonyms

   perchrod

   Broader terms

   area unitsquare measure

5. one of two points of intersection of the Earth's axis and the celestial sphere

   Synonyms

   celestial pole

   Broader terms

   celestial point

6. one of two antipodal points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects the Earth's surface

   Broader terms

   geographic pointgeographical point

7. a contact on an electrical device (such as a battery) at which electric current enters or leaves

   Synonyms

   terminal

   Broader terms

   contacttangency

8. a long fiberglass sports implement used for pole vaulting

   Broader terms

   sports implement

9. one of the two ends of a magnet where the magnetism seems to be concentrated

   Synonyms

   magnetic pole

   Broader terms

   endterminal

Verb

1. propel with a pole

   Synonyms

   punt

   Broader terms

   propelimpel

   Examples

   pole barges on the river

   We went punting in Cambridge

2. support on poles

   Broader terms

   holdsupportsustainhold up

   Examples

   pole climbing plants like beans

3. deoxidize molten metals by stirring them with a wooden pole

   Broader terms

   deoxidizedeoxidisereduce