pole

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)

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.

10.

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.

00:10

Pole is one of our favorite verbs.

So is kibitz. Does it mean:

to bark; yelp.

chat, to converse

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verb (used without object)

11.

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

Idioms

12.

under bare poles,

Nautical. (of a sailing ship) with no sails set, as during a violent storm.

stripped; naked; destitute: The thugs robbed him and left him under bare poles.

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

Related forms

pole·less, adjective

un·poled, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged

noun

each of the extremities of the axis of the earth or of any spherical body.

Astronomy, celestial pole.

one of two opposite or contrasted principles or tendencies: His behavior ranges between the poles of restraint and abandon.

a point of concentration of interest, attention, etc.: The beautiful actress was the pole of everyone's curiosity.

Electricity, Magnetism. either of the two regions or parts of an electric battery, magnet, or the like, that exhibits electrical or magnetic polarity.

Cell Biology.

either end of an ideal axis in a nucleus, cell, or ovum, about which parts are more or less symmetrically arranged.

either end of a spindle-shaped figure formed in a cell during mitosis.

the place at which a cell extension or process begins, as a nerve cell axon or a flagellum.

Mathematics.

a singular point at which a given function of a complex variable can be expanded in a Laurent series beginning with a specified finite, negative power of the variable.

origin ( def 6b ).

Crystallography. a line perpendicular to a crystal face and passing through the crystal center.

Idioms

poles apart/asunder, having widely divergent or completely opposite attitudes, interests, etc.: In education and background they were poles apart.

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin polus < Greek pólos pivot, axis, pole

noun

a native or inhabitant of Poland.

noun

Reginald, 1500–58, English cardinal and last Roman Catholic archbishop of Canterbury.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To pole

Collins

World English Dictionary

pole¹ (pəʊl)

—n
1.	a long slender usually round piece of wood, metal, or other material
2.	the piece of timber on each side of which a pair of carriage horses are hitched
3.	another name for rod
4.	chiefly (US), (Canadian) horse racing
	a. the inside lane of a racecourse
	b. (as modifier): the pole position
	c. one of a number of markers placed at intervals of one sixteenth of a mile along the side of a racecourse
5.	nautical
	a. any light spar
	b. the part of a mast between the head and the attachment of the uppermost shrouds
6.	nautical under bare poles (of a sailing vessel) with no sails set
7.	informal (Brit), (Austral), (NZ) up the pole
	a. slightly mad
	b. mistaken; on the wrong track

—vb
8.	(tr) to strike or push with a pole
9.	(tr)
	a. to set out (an area of land or garden) with poles
	b. to support (a crop, such as hops or beans) on poles
10.	(tr) to deoxidize (a molten metal, esp copper) by stirring it with green wood
11.	to punt (a boat)

[Old English pāl, from Latin pālus a stake, prop; see pale²]

pole² (pəʊl)

—n
1.	North Pole See also South Pole either of the two antipodal points where the earth's axis of rotation meets the earth's surface
2.	astronomy short for celestial pole
3.	physics
	a. either of the two regions at the extremities of a magnet to which the lines of force converge or from which they diverge
	b. 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
4.	maths an isolated singularity of an analytical function
5.	biology
	a. either end of the axis of a cell, spore, ovum, or similar body
	b. either end of the spindle formed during the metaphase of mitosis and meiosis
6.	physiol the point on a neuron from which the axon or dendrites project from the cell body
7.	either of two mutually exclusive or opposite actions, opinions, etc
8.	geometry the origin in a system of polar or spherical coordinates
9.	any fixed point of reference
10.	poles apart, poles asunder having widely divergent opinions, tastes, etc
11.	from pole to pole throughout the entire world

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

Pole¹ (pəʊl)

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

Pole² (pəʊl)

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

pole

"stake," O.E. pal "stake," from P.Gmc. *pal-, from L. palus "stake" (see pale(n.)). Racing sense of "inside fence surrounding a course" is from 1851. Pole-vault is attested from 1893. To not touch (something) with a ten-foot pole is from 1903, originally 40-foot pole.

pole

"ends of Earth's axis," c.1391, from L. polus "end of an axis, the sky," from Gk. polos "pivot, axis of a sphere, the sky," from PIE *kwolo- "turn round," from base *kwel- (see cycle). Astronomical pole-star (proper name Polaris) is from 1555. The O.E. word for it was Scip-steorra

"ship-star," reflecting its importance in navigation.

Pole

"inhabitant or native of Poland," 1650s, from Ger. Pole, sing. of Polen, from Pol. Poljane, lit. "field-dwellers," from pole "field," from PIE base *pele- "flat, plain" (see plane (1)).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

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.

American Heritage

Science Dictionary

pole

(pōl) Pronunciation Key

Mathematics
1. Either of the points at which an axis that passes through the center of a sphere intersects the surface of the sphere.
2. The fixed point used as a reference in a system of polar coordinates. It corresponds to the origin in the Cartesian coordinate system.
3. Geography Either of the points at which the Earth's axis of rotation intersects the Earth's surface; the North Pole or South Pole.
4. Either of the two similar points on another planet.
5. Either of the two points at the extremities of the axis of an organ or body.
6. Either end of the spindle formed in a cell during mitosis.
1. Geography Either of the points at which the Earth's axis of rotation intersects the Earth's surface; the North Pole or South Pole.
2. Either of the two similar points on another planet.
3. Either of the two points at the extremities of the axis of an organ or body.
4. Either end of the spindle formed in a cell during mitosis.
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
1. Either of the two points at the extremities of the axis of an organ or body.
2. Either end of the spindle formed in a cell during mitosis.