Find the word definition

The Collaborative International Dictionary
Pole mast

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:

    1. 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.

    2. A flag pole, a pole on which a flag is supported.

    3. A Maypole. See Maypole.

    4. A barber's pole, a pole painted in stripes, used as a sign by barbers and hairdressers.

    5. 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.

Usage examples of "pole mast".

A long pennant streamed from the brief pole mast beside her funnel.

He nodded his head upward towards the pole mast in front of the yacht's runnel.

The sail had been lowered, the little pole mast stuck up above the grass bank of the garden, and upon the bank itself a man was standing and staring vaguely towards the house as though not very sure of his ground.