Pole

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Pole, n. [Cf. G. Pole a Pole, Polen Poland.].

 A native or inhabitant of Poland; a Polander.  [1913 Webster]

Pole, n. [As. pāl, L. palus, akin to pangere to make fast. Cf. Pale a stake, Pact.].

•  A long, slender piece of wood; a tall, slender piece of timber; the stem of a small tree whose branches have been removed; as, specifically: (a) A carriage pole, a wooden bar extending from the front axle of a carriage between the wheel horses, by which the carriage is guided and held back. (b) A flag pole, a pole on which a flag is supported. (c) A Maypole. See Maypole. (d) A barber's pole, a pole painted in stripes, used as a sign by barbers and hairdressers. (e) A pole on which climbing beans, hops, or other vines, are trained.  [1913 Webster]
•  A measuring stick; also, a measure of length equal to 5Bacon.  [1913 Webster]

Pole bean (Bot.), any kind of bean which is customarily trained on poles, as the scarlet runner or the Lima bean. -- Pole flounder (Zoöl.), a large deep-water flounder (Glyptocephalus cynoglossus), native of the northern coasts of Europe and America, and much esteemed as a food fish; -- called also craig flounder, and pole fluke. -- Pole lathe, a simple form of lathe, or a substitute for a lathe, in which the work is turned by means of a cord passing around it, one end being fastened to the treadle, and the other to an elastic pole above. -- Pole mast (Naut.), a mast formed from a single piece or from a single tree. -- Pole of a lens (Opt.), the point where the principal axis meets the surface. -- Pole plate (Arch.), a horizontal timber resting on the tiebeams of a roof and receiving the ends of the rafters. It differs from the plate in not resting on the wall.

Pole, v. t. 

•  To furnish with poles for support; as, to pole beans or hops.  [1913 Webster]
•  To convey on poles; as, to pole hay into a barn.  [1913 Webster]
•  To impel by a pole or poles, as a boat.  [1913 Webster]
•  To stir, as molten glass, with a pole.  [1913 Webster]

Pole, n. [L. polus, Gr. a pivot or hinge on which anything turns, an axis, a pole; akin to to move: cf. F. pôle.].

•  Either extremity of an axis of a sphere; especially, one of the extremities of the earth's axis; as, the north pole.  [1913 Webster]
•  A point upon the surface of a sphere equally distant from every part of the circumference of a great circle; or the point in which a diameter of the sphere perpendicular to the plane of such circle meets the surface. Such a point is called the pole of that circle; as, the pole of the horizon; the pole of the ecliptic; the pole of a given meridian.  [1913 Webster]
•  One of the opposite or contrasted parts or directions in which a polar force is manifested; a point of maximum intensity of a force which has two such points, or which has polarity; as, the poles of a magnet; the north pole of a needle.  [1913 Webster]
•  The firmament; the sky.  [1913 Webster]

  "Shoots against the dusky pole."  [1913 Webster]
•  See Polarity, and Polar, n.  [1913 Webster]

Magnetic pole. See under Magnetic. -- Poles of the earth, or Terrestrial poles (Geog.), the two opposite points on the earth's surface through which its axis passes. -- Poles of the heavens, or Celestial poles, the two opposite points in the celestial sphere which coincide with the earth's axis produced, and about which the heavens appear to revolve.<-- sic. something seems missing. is "produced" superfluous? -->

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Pole, n.
1 a native or national of Poland.
2 a person of Polish descent.

Etymology

G f. Pol. Polanie, lit. field-dwellers f. pole field

Pole, 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.

Idiom

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.

Pole, n.
1 (in full north pole, south pole) a each of the two points in the celestial sphere about which the stars appear to revolve. b each of the extremities of the axis of rotation of the earth or another body. c see magnetic pole.

Idiom

be poles apart differ greatly, esp. in nature or opinion.

Usage

The spelling is North Pole and South Pole when used as geographical designations.
2 each of the two opposite points on the surface of a magnet at which magnetic forces are strongest.
3 each of two terminals (positive and negative) of an electric cell or battery etc.
4 each of two opposed principles or ideas.
5 Geom. each of two points in which the axis of a circle cuts the surface of a sphere.
6 a fixed point to which others are referred.
7 Biol. an extremity of the main axis of any spherical or oval organ.

Derivative

poleward adj. polewards adj. & adv.

Etymology

ME f. L polus f. Gk polos pivot, axis, sky

THESAURUS

Pole

China, Darkest Africa, God knows where, Greenland, Maypole, N pole, North Pole, Outer Mongolia, Pago Pago, Pillars of Hercules, S pole, Siberia, South Pole, Thule, Tierra del Fuego, Timbuktu, Ultima Thule, Yukon, acme, advance, all over, antenna tower, antipodal points, antipodes, antipoints, antipoles, apex, apogee, arbor, at odds, at opposite extremes, axis, axle, axle bar, axle shaft, axle spindle, axle-tree, baluster, balustrade, banister, bar, barbican, bare pole, base, beam, beanpole, belfry, bell tower, billet, bitter end, black and white, board, boarding, bottom dollar, boundary, bowl, brow, bunt, butt, butt end, campanile, cap, caryatid, clapboard, climax, cloud nine, colonnade, colossus, column, contraposita, contrapositives, contraries, cord, cordwood, counterpoles, crest, crown, culmen, culmination, cupola, dado, deal, derrick, die, distaff, dome, driftwood, drive, edge, end, everywhere, extreme, extreme limit, extremity, fag end, far and wide, farthest bound, fire tower, firewood, flagstaff, footstalk, forward, frontier, fulcrum, gimbal, godforsaken place, gudgeon, hardwood, heaven, heavens, height, high and low, high noon, highest pitch, highest point, hinge, hingle, hub, impel, irreconcilable, jack, jumping-off place, lantern, lath, lathing, lathwork, lighthouse, limit, log, lumber, magnetic axis, magnetic pole, mandrel, martello, martello tower, mast, maximum, meridian, minaret, monument, mountaintop, move, nave, ne plus ultra, negative pole, newel-post, nib, night and day, no place higher, noon, north pole, nowhere, oar, oarlock, obelisk, observation tower, opposite poles, opposites, outback, outer space, outpost, outskirts, paddle, pagoda, panelboard, paneling, panelwork, peak, pedal, pedestal, pedicel, peduncle, pier, pilaster, pile, piling, pillar, pin, pinnacle, pintle, pitch, pivot, plank, planking, plinth, plyboard, plywood, point, polar opposites, polarity, polarization, poles, poles apart, positive pole, post, propel, puncheon, push, pylon, pyramid, queen-post, radiant, ridge, rod, roll, row, rowlock, scape, scull, seventh heaven, shaft, shake, sheathing, sheathing board, sheeting, shingle, shove, shunt, sideboard, siding, sky, skyscraper, slab, slat, socle, softwood, south pole, spar, spindle, spire, splat, staff, stalk, stanchion, stand, standard, standpipe, stave, steeple, steering oar, stem, stick, stick of wood, stovewood, stub, stump, stupa, subbase, summit, surbase, sweep, sweep along, swivel, tag, tag end, tail, tail end, television mast, the Great Divide, the South Seas, the boondocks, the moon, the sticks, the tullies, three-by-four, thrust, timber, timbering, timberwork, tip, tip-top, tongue, top, tope, totem pole, tour, tower, treadle, tree, troll, trundle, trunk, trunnion, turret, two-by-four, upmost, upper extremity, uppermost, upright, utmost, vertex, very top, water tower, weatherboard, windmill tower, wood, worlds apart, zenith

ROGET THESAURUS

Pole

Length

N length, longitude, span, mileage, distance, line, bar, rule, stripe, streak, spoke, radius, lengthening, prolongation, production, protraction, tension, tensure, extension, line, nail, inch, hand, palm, foot, cubit, yard, ell, fathom, rood, pole, furlong, mile, league, chain, link, arpent, handbreadth, jornada, kos, vara, astronomical unit, AU, light- year, parsec, nanometer, nm, micron, micrometer, millimicron, millimeter, mm, centimeter, cm, meter, kilometer, km, pedometer, perambulator, scale, long, longsome, lengthy, wiredrawn, outstretched, lengthened, sesquipedalian, interminable, no end of, macrocolous, linear, lineal, longitudinal, oblong, as long as my arm, as long as today and tomorrow, unshortened &c (shorten), lengthwise, at length, longitudinally, endlong, along, tandem, in a line, in perspective, from end to end, from stem to stern, from head to foot, from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot, from top to toe, fore and aft.

Height

N height, altitude, elevation, eminence, pitch, loftiness, sublimity, tallness, stature, procerity, prominence, colossus, giant, grenadier, giraffe, camelopard, mount, mountain, hill alto, butte, monticle, fell, knap, cape, headland, foreland, promontory, ridge, hog's back, dune, rising ground, vantage ground, down, moor, moorland, Alp, uplands, highlands, heights, knob, loma, pena, picacho, tump, knoll, hummock, hillock, barrow, mound, mole, steeps, bluff, cliff, craig, tor, peak, pike, clough, escarpment, edge, ledge, brae, dizzy height, tower, pillar, column, obelisk, monument, steeple, spire, minaret, campanile, turret, dome, cupola, skyscraper, pole, pikestaff, maypole, flagstaff, top mast, topgallant mast, ceiling, high water, high tide, flood tide, spring tide, altimetry, batophobia, satellite, spy-in-the-sky, high, elevated, eminent, exalted, lofty, tall, gigantic, Patagonian, towering, beetling, soaring, hanging (gardens), elevated, upper, highest, high reaching, insessorial, perching, upland, moorland, hilly, knobby, mountainous, alpine, subalpine, heaven kissing, cloudtopt, cloudcapt, cloudtouching, aerial, overhanging, incumbent, overlying, superincumbent, supernatant, superimposed, prominent, tall as a maypole, tall as a poplar, tall as a steeple, lanky, on high, high up, aloft, up, above, aloof, overhead, airwind, upstairs, abovestairs, in the clouds, on tiptoe, on stilts, on the shoulders of, over head and ears, breast high, over, upwards, from top to bottom, e meglio cader dalle finistre che dal tetto.

Summit

N summit, summity, top, peak, vertex, apex, zenith, pinnacle, acme, culmination, meridian, utmost height, ne plus utra, height, pitch, maximum, climax, culminating point, crowning point, turning point, turn of the tide, fountain head, water shed, water parting, sky, pole, tip, tip top, crest, crow's nest, cap, truck, nib, end, crown, brow, head, nob, noddle, pate, capsheaf, high places, heights, topgallant mast, sky scraper, quarter deck, hurricane deck, architrave, frieze, cornice, coping stone, zoophorus, capital, epistyle, sconce, pediment, entablature, tympanum, ceiling, attic, loft, garret, house top, upper story, summit conference, summit, peak of achievement, peak of performance, peaks and troughs, peaks and valleys (in graphs), highest &c (high), top, top most, upper most, tiptop, culminating, meridian, meridional, capital, head, polar, supreme, supernal, topgallant, atop, at the top of the tree, en flute, fleur deau.

Rotation

N rotation, revolution, spinning, gyration, turning about an axis, turning aound an axis, circulation, roll, circumrotation, circumvolution, circumgyration, volutation, circination, turbination, pirouette, convolution, verticity, whir, whirl, eddy, vortex, whirlpool, gurge, countercurrent, Maelstrom, Charybdis, Ixion, cyclone, tornado, whirlwind, dust devil, spin-out, axis, axis of rotation, swivel, pivot, pivot point, axle, spindle, pin, hinge, pole, arbor, bobbin, mandrel, axle shaft, gymbal, hub, hub of rotation, helix, helical motion, angular momentum, angular velocity, revolutions per minute, RPM, centrifugal force, surge, vertigo, dizzy round, coriolus force, carousel, merry-go-round, Ferris wheel, top, dreidel, teetotum, gyroscope, turntable, lazy suzan, screw, whirligig, rollingstone, water wheel, windmill, wheel, pulley wheel, roulette wheel, potter's wheel, pinwheel, gear, roller, flywheel, jack, caster, centrifuge, ultracentrifuge, bench centrifuge, refrigerated centrifuge, gas centrifuge, microfuge, drill, augur, oil rig, wagon wheel, wheel, tire, tyre, trochilics, whirling dervish, rotating, rotary, rotary, circumrotatory, trochilic, vertiginous, gyratory, vortical, vorticose, head over heels, round and round, like a horse in a mill.