Library / English Dictionary

POLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A long (usually round) rod of wood or metal or plastic

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("pole" is a kind of...):

rod (a long thin implement made of metal or wood)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "pole"):

barge pole (a long pole used to propel or guide a barge)

boom; microphone boom (a pole carrying an overhead microphone projected over a film or tv set)

caber (a heavy wooden pole (such as the trunk of a young fir) that is tossed as a test of strength (in the Highlands of northern Scotland))

clothes tree; coat stand; coat tree (an upright pole with pegs or hooks on which to hang clothing)

mast (any sturdy upright pole)

ski pole (a pole with metal points used as an aid in skiing)

spar (a stout rounded pole of wood or metal used to support rigging)

stilt (one of two stout poles with foot rests in the middle; used for walking high above the ground)

Derivation:

pole (deoxidize molten metals by stirring them with a wooden pole)

pole (support on poles)

pole (propel with a pole)

Sense 2

Meaning:

One of the two ends of a magnet where the magnetism seems to be concentrated

Synonyms:

magnetic pole; pole

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("pole" is a kind of...):

end; terminal (either extremity of something that has length)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "pole"):

negative magnetic pole; negative pole; south-seeking pole (the pole of a magnet that points toward the south when the magnet is suspended freely)

north-seeking pole; positive magnetic pole; positive pole (the pole of a magnet that points toward the north when the magnet is suspended freely)

Holonyms ("pole" is a part of...):

magnet ((physics) a device that attracts iron and produces a magnetic field)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A long fiberglass sports implement used for pole vaulting

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("pole" is a kind of...):

sports implement (an implement used in a sport)

Sense 4

Meaning:

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

Synonyms:

pole; terminal

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("pole" is a kind of...):

contact; tangency ((electronics) a junction where things (as two electrical conductors) touch or are in physical contact)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "pole"):

positive pole (the terminal of a battery that is connected to the positive plate)

negative pole (the terminal of a battery that is connected to the negative plate)

anode (the negatively charged terminal of a voltaic cell or storage battery that supplies current)

Holonyms ("pole" is a part of...):

electrical device (a device that produces or is powered by electricity)

battery; electric battery (a device that produces electricity; may have several primary or secondary cells arranged in parallel or series)

Derivation:

polar (having a pair of equal and opposite charges)

Sense 5

Meaning:

One of two divergent or mutually exclusive opinions

Example:

they are poles apart

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("pole" is a kind of...):

opinion; persuasion; sentiment; thought; view (a personal belief or judgment that is not founded on proof or certainty)

Derivation:

polar (characterized by opposite extremes; completely opposed)

Sense 6

Meaning:

One of two antipodal points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects the Earth's surface

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Hypernyms ("pole" is a kind of...):

geographic point; geographical point (a point on the surface of the Earth)

Instance hyponyms:

North Pole (the northernmost point of the Earth's axis)

South Pole (the southernmost point of the Earth's axis)

Derivation:

polar (of or existing at or near a geographical pole or within the Arctic or Antarctic Circles)

polar (located at or near or coming from the earth's poles)

Sense 7

Meaning:

One of two points of intersection of the Earth's axis and the celestial sphere

Synonyms:

celestial pole; pole

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Hypernyms ("pole" is a kind of...):

celestial point (a point in the heavens (on the celestial sphere))

Instance hyponyms:

north celestial pole (the celestial pole above the northern hemisphere; near Polaris)

south celestial pole (the celestial pole above the southern hemisphere)

Sense 8

Meaning:

A native or inhabitant of Poland

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("Pole" is a kind of...):

European (a native or inhabitant of Europe)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "Pole"):

polack (a person of Polish descent)

Holonyms ("Pole" is a member of...):

Poland; Polska; Republic of Poland (a republic in central Europe; the invasion of Poland by Germany in 1939 started World War II)

Sense 9

Meaning:

A square rod of land

Synonyms:

perch; pole; rod

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Hypernyms ("pole" is a kind of...):

area unit; square measure (a system of units used to measure areas)

Sense 10

Meaning:

A linear measure of 16.5 feet

Synonyms:

perch; pole; rod

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Hypernyms ("pole" is a kind of...):

linear measure; linear unit (a unit of measurement of length)

Meronyms (parts of "pole"):

pace; yard (a unit of length equal to 3 feet; defined as 91.44 centimeters; originally taken to be the average length of a stride)

Domain region:

Britain; Great Britain; U.K.; UK; United Kingdom; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (a monarchy in northwestern Europe occupying most of the British Isles; divided into England and Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland; 'Great Britain' is often used loosely to refer to the United Kingdom)

Holonyms ("pole" is a part of...):

furlong (a unit of length equal to 220 yards)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Deoxidize molten metals by stirring them with a wooden pole

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "pole" is one way to...):

deoxidise; deoxidize; reduce (to remove oxygen from a compound, or cause to react with hydrogen or form a hydride, or to undergo an increase in the number of electrons)

Domain category:

metallurgy (the science and technology of metals)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

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

Sense 2

Meaning:

Support on poles

Example:

pole climbing plants like beans

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "pole" is one way to...):

hold; hold up; support; sustain (be the physical support of; carry the weight of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

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

Sense 3

Meaning:

Propel with a pole

Example:

We went punting in Cambridge

Synonyms:

pole; punt

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "pole" is one way to...):

impel; propel (cause to move forward with force)

"Pole" entails doing...:

force; push (move with force)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

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

Credits

 Context examples: 

On the superior pole of each kidney there is an adrenal gland.

(Kidney, NCI Thesaurus)

Nice little boy, but rather a short Pole to support...

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

But I reflected that Yarmouth might be situated at one of the poles; which would account for it.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The elevation of frames of poles caught his eye; yet this in itself was not so remarkable, being done by the same creatures that flung sticks and stones to great distances.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

“Yare! yare!” screamed Goodwin Hawtayne, flinging himself upon the long pole which served as a tiller.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

On Earth, auroras are created when charged particles from the solar wind enter our planet's magnetosphere, a region where Earth's magnetic field accelerates and sends them toward the poles.

(Powerful Auroras Found at Brown Dwarf, NASA)

Right up there is our line for the Pole Star and the jolly dollars.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

I replied, however, that we were on a voyage of discovery towards the northern pole.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Because of this extreme tilt, during the planet's summer the Sun shines almost directly onto the north pole and never sets.

(Hubble Reveals Dynamic Atmospheres of Uranus, Neptune, NASA)

As expected, all these data suggest a trove of water ice throughout the Martian poles and mid-latitudes.

(NASA's Treasure Map for Water Ice on Mars, NASA)