<HEAD><TITLE>DICTIONARY: pole - police action</TITLE></HEAD>
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<A NAME="pole">
<B>pole</B> (1), noun, verb, <B>poled,</B> <B>poling.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a long, slender piece of wood, steel, or the like. <BR> <I>Ex. a telephone pole, a flagpole, a ski pole, a totem pole.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the tapered wooden shaft of a vehicle; tongue. <DD><B> 3. </B>a measure of length; rod; 5 1/2 yards or 5.0292 meters. <DD><B> 4. </B>a measure of area; square rod; 30 1/4 square yards or 25.289 square meters. <DD><B> 5a. </B>a ship's mast. <BR> <I>Ex. We were scudding before a heavy gale, under bare poles (Frederick Marryat).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>any spar, especially a light spar. <DD><B> 6. </B>the starting position nearest the inner rail or boundary fence of a race track. <BR> <I>Ex. to have the pole.</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to make (a boat) go with a pole. <BR> <I>Ex. Barges ... floated and sailed from upper rivers to New Orleans ... and were tediously ... poled back by hand (Mark Twain).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to stir (molten metal or glass) with a pole of green wood, so as to reduce the oxygen in the mass by introducing carbon that reacts with the oxygen. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Slang.) to hit (a long drive, especially a home run) in baseball. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to pole a boat. <BR> <I>Ex. And poling upstream in white water, unassisted by a motor, is an art not easily acquired (Atlantic).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="pole">
<B>pole</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>either end of the earth's axis. The North Pole and South Pole are opposite each other. <DD><B> 2. </B>either of two parts where opposite forces are strongest. A magnet or battery has both a positive pole and a negative pole. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Geometry.) <DD><B> a. </B>either end of the axis of any sphere. <DD><B> b. </B>the origin or fixed point in a system of polar coordinates. <DD><B> 4. </B>either celestial pole. <DD><B> 5. </B>(Biology.) <DD><B> a. </B>each extremity of the main axis of an organism, nucleus, or cell, especially an egg cell. <DD><B> b. </B>each extremity of the spindle formed in a cell during mitosis. <DD><B> c. </B>the point on a nerve cell where a process originates. <DD><B> 6. </B>each of two opposed or complementary principles. <BR><I>expr. <B>poles apart,</B> </I>very different from one another; at opposite poles. <BR> <I>Ex. Mr. McKay and Mr. Lessing are poles apart in many of their views and judgments (Wall Street Journal).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="pole">
<B>Pole, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person born or living in Poland, a country in central Europe between Germanyand Russia. </DL>
<A NAME="poleax">
<B>poleax</B> or <B>poleaxe, </B>noun, verb, <B>-axed,</B> <B>-axing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>an ax with a long handle and a hook or spike opposite the blade. <DD><B> 2. </B>a kind of battle-ax with a short handle. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to fell with or as if with a poleax. </DL>
<A NAME="polebean">
<B>pole bean,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any one of various varieties of beans with long stems, grown by planting next to poles, wire, or fence, up which they may climb. </DL>
<A NAME="polecat">
<B>polecat, </B>noun, pl. <B>-cats</B> or (collectively) <B>-cat.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1a. </B>a small, dark-brown, European mammal which can emit a very disagreeable odor; fitch. It is a carnivorous animal related to the weasel. The domesticated ferret is closely related to it. <DD><B> b. </B>any one of various mammals of Asia related to the European polecat. <DD><B> 2. </B>the North American skunk. <DD><B> 3. </B>(U.S. Informal, Figurative.) a mean or contemptible person. </DL>
<A NAME="polecon">
<B>pol. econ.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> political economy. </DL>
<A NAME="polehorse">
<B>pole horse,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a horse harnessed beside the pole of a vehicle; poler. </DL>
<A NAME="poleis">
<B>poleis, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> plural of <B>polis.</B> </DL>
<B>poleman, </B>noun, pl. <B>-men.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a man using a pole, as in surveying, logging, or construction. </DL>
<A NAME="polemic">
<B>polemic, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a disputing discussion; argument; controversy. <BR> <I>Ex. Writing polemics against a czar in a candlelit cellar could be dangerous (Newsweek).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a person who takes part in a controversy or argument. <DD><I>adj. </I> of controversy or disagreement; of dispute. <BR> <I>Ex. My father's little library consisted chiefly of books in polemic divinity (Benjamin Franklin).</I> (SYN) controversial. adv. <B>polemically.</B> </DL>
<B>polemicist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a writer of polemics. <BR> <I>Ex. The Church has had ... able ecclesiastics, effective polemicists and apologists (Andrew M. Fairbairn).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="polemicize">
<B>polemicize, </B>intransitive verb, <B>-cized,</B> <B>-cizing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to engage in polemics; carry on a controversy. <BR> <I>Ex. Skeptics have long theorized and polemicized about the phenomenon without producing a fully convincing natural explanation (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="polemics">
<B>polemics, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the art or practice of disputation or controversy, especially in theology. (SYN) argumentation. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Theology.) the branch of theology that deals with the history or conduct of ecclesiastical controversy. </DL>
<B>polemological, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with polemology. </DL>
<A NAME="polemology">
<B>polemology, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the study of conflicts, especially of war among nations. </DL>
<A NAME="polemoniaceous">
<B>polemoniaceous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> belonging to a family of dicotyledonous herbs including many ornamental flowers, such as the phlox and Jacob's-ladder. </DL>
<A NAME="polenta">
<B>polenta, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a thick porridge made of corn meal, commonly eaten in Italy. </DL>
<A NAME="poleofcold">
<B>pole of cold,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the place in either polar region where the lowest winter temperature occurs, such as Verkhoyansk in northern central Asia. </DL>
<A NAME="poleofinaccessibility">
<B>pole of inaccessibility,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the point on the Antarctic continent which is the geographic center, being the point farthest from the coast in every direction. </DL>
<A NAME="polepiece">
<B>polepiece, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a piece of iron forming the end of an electromagnet, through which the lines of magnetic force are concentrated and directed. </DL>
<A NAME="poleplate">
<B>pole plate,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a horizontal timber (plate) laid across the tie beams and supporting the ends of rafters in a roof. </DL>
<A NAME="poleposition">
<B>pole position,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(in racing) the position of a contestant who is on the inside of the track, which gives him an advantage, since his opponents must cover a larger circumference in attempting to pass him. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) an advantageous position. <BR> <I>Ex. The German company retained a pole position in hormone research which led to the Pill (Sunday Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="poler">
<B>poler, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person who poles a boat. <DD><B> 2. </B>an animal harnessed beside the pole of a vehicle; pole horse. </DL>
<A NAME="polestar">
<B>polestar, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the North Star, a star that is almost directly above the North Pole, and was formerly much used as a guide by sailors. (SYN) Polaris. <DD><B> 2. </B>a guiding principle; guide. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) the center of attraction, interest, or attention. </DL>
<A NAME="polestrap">
<B>pole strap,</B> <B>=martingale.</B></DL>
<A NAME="poletrap">
<B>pole trap,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a circular steel trap set on the top of a post. </DL>
<A NAME="polevault">
<B>pole vault,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a vault over a high, horizontal bar between uprights, by using a long pole. </DL>
<A NAME="polevault">
<B>pole-vault, </B>intransitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> to jump or leap over a high horizontal bar by using a long pole. noun <B>polevaulter.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="polevaulting">
<B>pole-vaulting, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the act or pactice of vaulting with the aid of a pole. </DL>
<A NAME="poleward">
<B>poleward, </B>adjective, adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> toward the North or the South Pole. <BR> <I>Ex. The air about the equator rises, and flows poleward in both directions (J. W. Powell).</I> </DL>
<B>police, </B>noun, verb, <B>-liced,</B> <B>-licing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>persons whose duty is keeping order and arresting people who break the law. <BR> <I>Ex. It is the function of the police to be on the watch for antisocial conduct and to apprehend the offender as soon as possible (Emory S. Bogardus).</I> (SYN) constabulary, gendarmery. <DD><B> 2. </B>the department of a government that keeps order and arrests persons who break the law. <DD><B> 3. </B>regulation and control of a community, especially with reference to matters of public order, safety, health, and morals; public order. <DD><B> 4a. </B>the act of cleaning and keeping in order an area, such as a military camp. <DD><B> b. </B>the soldiers detailed to do this. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to keep order in. <BR> <I>Ex. to police the streets, to police the seas.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) to control, regulate, or administer (a law, operation, program, industry, (or association) to discover or prevent the breaking of a law, rule, or agreement. <BR> <I>Ex. ... authority to police prescription-drug advertising (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to keep clean and in order. <BR> <I>Ex. to police an army camp, to police a hospital kitchen.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Obsolete.) to regulate (a state or country). </DL>
<A NAME="policeaction">
<B>police action,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a peacekeeping military action or campaign carried out against insurgent or aggressive forces in the interest of world peace. <BR> <I>Ex. The Korean war was not a war between sovereign nations, but a United Nations police action (Bulletin of Atomic Scientists).</I> </DL>
