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Entry 12 senses · 4 variants Webster, 1913

Pole

/pōl/ · IPA /poʊl/
01 n. A native or inhabitant of Poland; a Polander.
  1. 1.
    A native or inhabitant of Poland; a Polander.
02 n. A long, slender piece of wood; a tall, slender piece of timber; the stem of a small tree whose branches have been removed;
  1. 1.
    A long, slender piece of wood; a tall, slender piece of timber; the stem of a small tree whose branches have been removed;
  2. 2.
    A measuring stick; also, a measure of length equal to 5� yards, or a square measure equal to 30� square yards; a rod; a perch.
Phrases & compounds
Pole bean — any kind of bean which is customarily trained on poles, as the scarlet runner or the Lima bean.
Pole flounder — 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 — a mast formed from a single piece or from a single tree.
Pole of a lens — the point where the principal axis meets the surface.
Pole plate — 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.
03 v. t. To furnish with poles for support; as, to pole beans or hops.
imp. & p. p. Poled; p. pr. & vb. n. Poling
  1. 1.
    To furnish with poles for support; as, to pole beans or hops.
  2. 2.
    To convey on poles; as, to pole hay into a barn.
  3. 3.
    To impel by a pole or poles, as a boat.
  4. 4.
    To stir, as molten glass, with a pole.
04 n. Either extremity of an axis of a sphere; especially, one of the extremities of the earth's axis; as, the north pole.
  1. 1.
    Either extremity of an axis of a sphere; especially, one of the extremities of the earth's axis; as, the north pole.
  2. 2.
    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.(Spherics)
  3. 3.
    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.(Physics)
  4. 4.
    The firmament; the sky.[Poetic]
    “Shoots against the dusky pole.” — Milton.
  5. 5.
    See Polarity, and Polar, n.(Geom.) See: Polarity, Polar
Phrases & compounds
Magnetic pole — See under Magnetic.
Poles of the earth — the two opposite points on the earth's surface through which its axis passes.
Poles of the heavens — the two opposite points in the celestial sphere which coincide with the earth's axis produced, and about which the heavens appear to revolve.