Poling

Pole  (pl)

n.

1. A native or inhabitant of Poland.

2. A person of Polish descent.

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Pole, Reginald 1500-1558.

English prelate. The last Roman Catholic archbishop of Canterbury (1556), he was a leading figure in the Counter Reformation.

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pole ¹  (pl)

n.

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

a. Either extremity of the main axis of a nucleus, cell, or organism.

b. Either end of the spindle formed in a cell during mitosis.

c. The point on a nerve cell where a process originates.

7. 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).

8. A fixed point of reference.

9. Mathematics The origin in a polar coordinate system; the vertex of a polar angle.

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[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin polus, from Greek polos, axis, sky; see k^wel-¹ in Indo-European roots.]

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pole ²  (pl)

n.

1. A long, relatively slender, generally rounded piece of wood or other material.

2. The long tapering wooden shaft extending up from the front axle of a vehicle to the collars of the animals drawing it; a tongue.

3.

a. See rod.

b. A unit of area equal to a square rod.

4. Sports The inside position on the starting line of a racetrack: qualified in the time trials to start on the pole.

v. poled, pol·ing, poles

v.tr.

1.

a. To propel with a pole: boatmen poling barges up a placid river.

b. 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).

2. To support (plants) with a pole.

3. To strike, poke, or stir with a pole.

v.intr.

1. To propel a boat or raft with a pole.

2. To use ski poles to maintain or gain speed.

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[Middle English, from Old English pl, from Latin plus, stake; see pag- in Indo-European roots.]