noun, verb, poled, pol⋅ing.| 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.
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| 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). |
| 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. |
| 11. | to propel a boat, raft, etc., with a pole: to pole down the river. |
| 12. | under bare poles,
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| 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.
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| 7. | Mathematics.
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| 8. | Crystallography. a line perpendicular to a crystal face and passing through the crystal center. |
| 9. | poles apart or asunder, having widely divergent or completely opposite attitudes, interests, etc.: In education and background they were poles apart. |

| 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. |
| 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.
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| 6. | Mathematics.
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pole 2 (pōl) n.
v. tr.
[Middle English, from Old English pāl, from Latin pālus, stake; see pag- in Indo-European roots.] |
| 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.
[Middle English rodd, from Old English.] |
origin or·i·gin (ôr'ə-jĭn)
n.
The point at which something comes into existence or from which it derives or is derived.
The fact of originating; rise or derivation.
The point of attachment of a muscle that remains relatively fixed during contraction.
The starting point of a cranial or spinal nerve.
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.
| celestial pole
Either of the two points at which a northward or southward projection of the Earth's axis intersects the celestial sphere. The north and south celestial poles are analogous to Earth's geographic poles and are used in determining right ascension in the equatorial coordinate system. Depending on which hemisphere an observer is in, the stars and other celestial objects appear to revolve once around the north or south celestial pole every 24 hours, an effect produced by the rotation of the Earth on its axis. Because of the precession of Earth's axis, the celestial poles gradually shift position in the sky over a nearly 26,000-year cycle. |
| origin (ôr'ə-jĭn) Pronunciation Key
The point at which the axes of a Cartesian coordinate system intersect. The coordinates of the origin are (0,0) in two dimensions and (0,0,0) in three dimensions. |
pole (pōl) Pronunciation Key
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