Pole

English Meaning

A native or inhabitant of Poland; a Polander.

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 Either extremity of the main axis of a nucleus, cell, or organism.
7. Biology Either end of the spindle formed in a cell during mitosis.
8. Biology The point on a nerve cell where a process originates.
9. 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).
10. A fixed point of reference.
11. Mathematics The origin in a polar coordinate system; the vertex of a polar angle.
12. A long, relatively slender, generally rounded piece of wood or other material.
13. The long tapering wooden shaft extending up from the front axle of a vehicle to the collars of the animals drawing it; a tongue.
14. See rod.
15. A unit of area equal to a square rod.
16. Sports The inside position on the starting line of a racetrack: qualified in the time trials to start on the pole.
17. To propel with a pole: boatmen poling barges up a placid river.
18. 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).
19. To support (plants) with a pole.
20. To strike, poke, or stir with a pole.
21. To propel a boat or raft with a pole.
22. To use ski poles to maintain or gain speed.