Subscriber login


Forgot your password?

Library card login

Other

pole2

Pronunciation: /pəʊl/
Translate pole | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of pole

noun

  • either of the two locations ( North Pole or South Pole) on the surface of the earth (or of a celestial object) which are the northern and southern ends of the axis of rotation. See also magnetic pole.
  • Geometry either of the two points at which the axis of a circle cuts the surface of a sphere.
  • Geometry a fixed point to which other points or lines are referred, e.g. the origin of polar coordinates or the point of which a line or curve is a polar.
  • Biology an extremity of the main axis of a cell, organ, or part.
  • each of the two opposite points on the surface of a magnet at which magnetic forces are strongest.
  • each of two terminals (positive and negative) of an electric cell, battery, or machine.
  • one of two opposed or contradictory principles or ideas: Miriam and Rebecca represent two poles in the argument about transracial adoption

Phrases

be poles apart

have nothing in common: the two sisters had ceased to communicate with each other—their ideas were now poles apart

Derivatives

poleward

adjective

polewards

adjective & adverb

Origin:

late Middle English: from Latin polus 'end of an axis', from Greek polos 'pivot, axis, sky'

Do not confuse pole with poll. Pole means 'a long, thin piece of metal or wood' or 'a point at the opposite end to another' (she and Tom were poles apart in temperament), whereas poll means 'the process of voting in an election' (voters go to the polls next week) or 'record someone’s vote or opinion'.

pole in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of pole in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

  |  Cite

More words in this category

Word of the day

offing

/ ˈɒfɪŋ /
noun
the more distant part of the sea in view …