Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Pole \Pole\, n. [As. p[=a]l, L. palus, akin to pangere to make
fast. Cf. {Pale} a stake, {Pact}.]
1. A long, slender piece of wood; a tall, slender piece of
timber; the stem of a small tree whose branches have been
removed; as, specifically:
(a) A carriage pole, a wooden bar extending from the front
axle of a carriage between the wheel horses, by which
the carriage is guided and held back.
(b) A flag pole, a pole on which a flag is supported.
(c) A Maypole. See {Maypole}.
(d) A barber's pole, a pole painted in stripes, used as a
sign by barbers and hairdressers.
(e) A pole on which climbing beans, hops, or other vines,
are trained.
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. --Bacon.
{Pole bean} (Bot.), any kind of bean which is customarily
trained on poles, as the scarlet runner or the Lima bean.
{Pole flounder} (Zo["o]l.), 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} (Naut.), a mast formed from a single piece or
from a single tree.
{Pole of a lens} (Opt.), the point where the principal axis
meets the surface.
{Pole plate} (Arch.), 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.