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Definition of pole - 19 dictionary results
Pole
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pole

1  [pohl] noun, verb, poled, pol⋅ing.
Use pole in a Sentence
–noun
1. a long, cylindrical, often slender piece of wood, metal, etc.: a telephone pole; a fishing pole.
2. 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.
3. Nautical.
a. a light spar.
b. that part of a mast between the uppermost standing rigging and the truck.
4. the lane of a racetrack nearest to the infield; the inside lane. Compare post 1 (def. 5).
5. a unit of length equal to 16 1/2 feet (5 m); a rod.
6. a square rod, 30 1/4 square yards (25.3 sq. m).
–verb (used with object)
7. to furnish with poles.
8. to push, strike, or propel with a pole: to pole a raft.
9. 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.
–verb (used without object)
11. to propel a boat, raft, etc., with a pole: to pole down the river.
—Idiom
12. under bare poles,
a. Nautical. (of a sailing ship) with no sails set, as during a violent storm.
b. stripped; naked; destitute: The thugs robbed him and left him under bare poles.
Origin:
bef. 1050; ME; OE pāl < L pālus stake. See pale 2

Related forms:
poleless, adjective
Pole
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pole

2  [pohl]
–noun
1. each of the extremities of the axis of the earth or of any spherical body.
2. Astronomy. celestial pole.
3. one of two opposite or contrasted principles or tendencies: His behavior ranges between the poles of restraint and abandon.
4. a point of concentration of interest, attention, etc.: The beautiful actress was the pole of everyone's curiosity.
5. Electricity, Magnetism. either of the two regions or parts of an electric battery, magnet, or the like, that exhibits electrical or magnetic polarity.
6. Cell Biology.
a. either end of an ideal axis in a nucleus, cell, or ovum, about which parts are more or less symmetrically arranged.
b. either end of a spindle-shaped figure formed in a cell during mitosis.
c. the place at which a cell extension or process begins, as a nerve cell axon or a flagellum.
7. Mathematics.
a. 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.
b. origin (def. 6b).
8. Crystallography. a line perpendicular to a crystal face and passing through the crystal center.
—Idiom
9. poles apart or asunder, having widely divergent or completely opposite attitudes, interests, etc.: In education and background they were poles apart.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME < L polus < Gk pólos pivot, axis, pole

Pole

  [pohl]
–noun
a native or inhabitant of Poland.

Pole

  [pohl]
–noun
Reginald, 1500–58, English cardinal and last Roman Catholic archbishop of Canterbury.

celestial pole

 
–noun Astronomy.
each of the two points in which the extended axis of the earth cuts the celestial sphere and about which the stars seem to revolve.
Also called pole.

Origin:
1900–05

or⋅i⋅gin

  [awr-i-jin, or-]
–noun
1. something from which anything arises or is derived; source; fountainhead: to follow a stream to its origin.
2. rise or derivation from a particular source: the origin of a word.
3. the first stage of existence; beginning: the origin of Quakerism in America.
4. ancestry; parentage; extraction: to be of Scottish origin.
5. Anatomy.
a. the point of derivation.
b. the more fixed portion of a muscle.
6. Mathematics.
a. the point in a Cartesian coordinate system where the axes intersect.
b. Also called pole. the point from which rays designating specific angles originate in a polar coordinate system with no axes.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME < L orīgin- (s. of orīgō) beginning, source, lineage, deriv. of orīrī to rise; cf. orient

Synonyms:
1. root, foundation. 4. birth, lineage, descent.

Antonyms:
1. destination, end.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To pole
pole 1   (pōl)   
n.  

  1. Either extremity of an axis through a sphere.

  2. Either of the regions contiguous to the extremities of the earth's rotational axis, the North Pole or the South Pole.

  3. Physics A magnetic pole.

  4. Electricity Either of two oppositely charged terminals, as in an electric cell or battery.

  5. Astronomy A celestial pole.

  6. Biology

    1. Either extremity of the main axis of a nucleus, cell, or organism.

    2. Either end of the spindle formed in a cell during mitosis.

    3. The point on a nerve cell where a process originates.

  7. Either of two antithetical ideas, propensities, forces, or positions: "the moral poles of modern medicine: on the one hand, a tinkering with procreation with at best ambiguous, at worst monstrous moral possibilities. On the other hand, scientific skill and cunning unambiguously in the service of hope" (Charles Krauthammer).

  8. A fixed point of reference.

  9. Mathematics The origin in a polar coordinate system; the vertex of a polar angle.


[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin polus, from Greek polos, axis, sky; see kwel-1 in Indo-European roots.]
pole 2   (pōl)   
n.  

  1. A long, relatively slender, generally rounded piece of wood or other material.

  2. The long tapering wooden shaft extending up from the front axle of a vehicle to the collars of the animals drawing it; a tongue.

    1. See rod.

    2. A unit of area equal to a square rod.

  4. Sports The inside position on the starting line of a racetrack: qualified in the time trials to start on the pole.

v.   poled, pol·ing, poles

v.   tr.

    1. To propel with a pole: boatmen poling barges up a placid river.

    2. To propel (oneself) or make (one's way) by the use of ski poles: "We ski through the glades on corn snow, then pole our way over a long one-hour runout to a road" (Frederick Selby).

  2. To support (plants) with a pole.

  3. To strike, poke, or stir with a pole.

v.   intr.

  1. To propel a boat or raft with a pole.

  2. To use ski poles to maintain or gain speed.


[Middle English, from Old English pāl, from Latin pālus, stake; see pag- in Indo-European roots.]
Pole   (pōl)   
n.  

  1. A native or inhabitant of Poland.

  2. A person of Polish descent.

Pole, Reginald 1500-1558.  
English prelate. The last Roman Catholic archbishop of Canterbury (1556), he was a leading figure in the Counter Reformation.
rod   (rŏd)   
n.  

  1. A thin straight piece or bar of material, such as metal or wood, often having a particular function or use, as:

    1. A fishing rod.

    2. A piston rod.

    3. An often expandable horizontal bar, especially of metal, used to suspend household items such as curtains or towels.

    4. A leveling rod.

    5. A lightning rod.

    6. A divining rod.

    7. A measuring stick.

    8. A stick or bundle of sticks or switches used to give punishment by whipping.

    9. Punishment; correction.

    10. A linear measure equal to 5.5 yards or 16.5 feet (5.03 meters). Also called pole2.

    11. The square of this measure, equal to 30.25 square yards or 272.25 square feet (25.30 square meters). See Table at measurement.

  2. A shoot or stem cut from or growing as part of a woody plant.

    1. A stick or bundle of sticks or switches used to give punishment by whipping.

    2. Punishment; correction.

    3. A linear measure equal to 5.5 yards or 16.5 feet (5.03 meters). Also called pole2.

    4. The square of this measure, equal to 30.25 square yards or 272.25 square feet (25.30 square meters). See Table at measurement.

  4. A scepter, staff, or wand symbolizing power or authority.

  5. Power or dominion, especially of a tyrannical nature: "under the rod of a cruel slavery" (John Henry Newman).

  6. Abbr. rd

    1. A linear measure equal to 5.5 yards or 16.5 feet (5.03 meters). Also called pole2.

    2. The square of this measure, equal to 30.25 square yards or 272.25 square feet (25.30 square meters). See Table at measurement.

  7. Bible A line of family descent; a branch of a tribe.

  8. Anatomy Any of various rod-shaped cells in the retina that respond to dim light.

  9. Microbiology An elongated bacterium; a bacillus.

  10. Slang A pistol or revolver.

  11. A portion of the undercarriage of a train, especially the drawbar under a freight car. Often used in the plural: ride the rods.


[Middle English rodd, from Old English.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

pole  (1)
"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  (2)
"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  (3)
"inhabitant or native of Poland," 1656, 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, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: or·i·gin
Pronunciation: 'or-&-j&n, 'är-
Function: noun
1 : the point at which something begins or rises orfrom which it derives
2 : the more fixed, central, or larger attachment of a muscle —compare INSERTION1

Main Entry: pole
Pronunciation: 'pOl
Function: noun
1 a : either of the two terminals of an electric cell, battery, generator, or motor b : one of two or more regions in a magnetized body at which the magnetic flux density is concentrated
2 : either of two morphologically or physiologically differentiatedareas at opposite ends of an axis in an organism, organ, or cell —see ANIMAL POLE, VEGETAL POLE
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

origin or·i·gin (ôr'ə-jĭn)
n.

  1. The point at which something comes into existence or from which it derives or is derived.

  2. The fact of originating; rise or derivation.

  3. The point of attachment of a muscle that remains relatively fixed during contraction.

  4. The starting point of a cranial or spinal nerve.

pole (pōl)
n.

  1. Either of the two points at the extremities of the axis of an organ or body.

  2. Either extremity of an axis through a sphere.

  3. Either of two oppositely charged terminals, as in an electric cell.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Idioms & Phrases

pole

see low man on the totem pole; not touch with a ten-foot pole.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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