Pole may refer to:

Astronomy

* Celestial pole, the projection of the planet Earth's axis of rotation onto the celestial sphere; also applies to the axis of rotation of other planets * Pole star, a visible star that is approximately aligned with the Earth's axis of rotation * Orbital pole, the projection of the line perpendicular to planet Earth's orbit onto the celestial sphere; also applies to the orbit of other planets * Poles of astronomical bodies, concepts analogous to the Earth's geographic and magnetic poles on other planets and Solar System bodies

Cylindrical objects

A solid

cylindrical A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infini ...

object or

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

with its length greater than its diameter, for example: * Asherah pole, a sacred tree or pole that stood near Canaanite religious locations to honor the Ugaritic mother-goddess Asherah, consort of El * Barber's pole, advertising the barber shop * Ceremonial pole or festival pole symbolizes a variety of concepts in several different cultures * Fireman's pole, wooden pole or a metal tube or pipe installed between floors in fire stations *

Flagpole (structure) A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic desi ...

, metal pole from which a flag is hung *

Gin pole A gin pole is a supported pole that uses a pulley or block and tackle on its upper end to lift loads. The lower end is braced or set in a shallow hole and positioned so the upper end lies above the object to be lifted. The pole (also known as a ...

, a supported pole which uses a pulley or block and tackle on its upper end to lift loads *

Lamppost A street light, light pole, lamp pole, lamppost, street lamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or path. Similar lights may be found on a railway platform. When urban electric power distribution ...

, a raised source of light on the edge of a road *

Quant pole Quant may refer to: * Quant (surname) * Quant pole, used to propel a barge * A financial jargon term for: ** Quantitative analyst, someone who applies mathematical techniques to financial investment ** Quantitative fund, an investment fund manag ...

, a pole used for pushing barges or punts * Setting pole, a pole used for propelling boats in shallow waters * Pole (surveying), used in geographical surveying * Totem pole, monumental sculptures carved from great trees * Trolley pole * Utility pole, also called a telephone pole, telegraph pole or power pole, a pole that carries utility wires *Poles used in sporting and other activities: ** Dance pole, a pole used for pole dancing and pole sports **

Danish pole A Danish pole is a circus prop, consisting of a wooden pole about 4 metres long and with a 5 cm diameter. It is fastened to a turnable base on the bottom and to a rope on top. The rope can be slackened, causing the pole to hang at an angle and permi ...

, a circus prop ** Festivus pole, a pole used in the celebration of Festivus that is traditionally made of aluminium **

Fishing pole A fishing rod is a long, thin rod used by anglers to catch fish by manipulating a line ending in a hook (formerly known as an ''angle'', hence the term "angling"). At its most basic form, a fishing rod is a straight rigid stick/pole with a ...

, tool used to catch fish **

Foul pole A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers ...

, used in the sport of baseball to distinguish foul balls from fair balls hit into the outfield **

Maypole A maypole is a tall wooden pole erected as a part of various European folk festivals, around which a maypole dance often takes place. The festivals may occur on 1 May or Pentecost (Whitsun), although in some countries it is instead erected at ...

, a tall wooden pole with ornaments, like ribbons, that is danced around ** Pole bending, a rodeo event that involves riding a horse around six poles arranged in a line **

Pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...

, in motorsport, the position at the front of the starting grid (originally marked with a pole) ** Polesaw, a saw attached to a pole for cutting tree branches ** Pole-sitting pole, a pole used for pole sitting, which is the practice of sitting on a pole for extended lengths of time ** Pole vaulting pole, a pole used for pole vaulting ** Pole weapon, combat weapon in which the main fighting part of the weapon is placed on the end of a long shaft, typically of wood **

Ski pole Ski poles, also referred to as poles (in North America), sticks (UK), or stocks (Australia), are used by skiers for balance and propulsion. Modern ski poles are most commonly made from aluminum and carbon fiber, though materials such as bamboo are ...

, a pole used by skiers to improve balance, speed and acceleration ** Spinnaker pole, a spar used in sailboats to help support and control a variety of headsails, particularly the spinnaker ** Trekking pole, also called hiking sticks or hiking poles, a pole used for hiking

Geography and places

Geographical pole A geographical pole or geographic pole is either of the two points on Earth where its axis of rotation intersects its surface. The North Pole lies in the Arctic Ocean while the South Pole is in Antarctica. North and South poles are also define ...

, either of two fixed points on the surface of a spinning body or planet, at 90 degrees from the equator, based on the axis around which a body spins ** North Pole, the northernmost point on the surface of the Earth, where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects the Earth's surface ** Polar circle, either of two circles of latitude marking the extreme southerly points (northern hemisphere) or northerly points (southern hemisphere) at which the sun may remain above or below the horizon for 24 continuous hours at some point during the year **

Polar region The polar regions, also called the frigid geographical zone, zones or polar zones, of Earth are the regions of the planet that surround its geographical poles (the North Pole, North and South Poles), lying within the polar circles. These high l ...

, the region within the polar circles, referred to as the Arctic and Antarctic ** South Pole, the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth, where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects the Earth's surface *** Ceremonial South Pole, an area set aside for photo opportunities at the South Pole Station *

Magnetic poles of astronomical bodies The poles of astronomical bodies are determined based on their axis of rotation in relation to the celestial poles of the celestial sphere. Astronomical bodies include stars, planets, dwarf planets and small Solar System bodies such as comets and m ...

** North Magnetic Pole, the shifting point on the Earth to which the "north" end of a dipole magnet points ** South Magnetic Pole, the shifting point on the Earth to which the "south" end of a dipole magnet points *The Tibetan Plateau, also known as the "Third Pole" ** Mount Everest, the third "top" of the Earth and part of the Three Poles Challenge * Pole of inaccessibility, a location that is the most challenging to reach owing to its remoteness from geographical features which could provide access *

Pole, Lubusz Voivodeship Pole is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Gubin, within Krosno Odrzańskie County, Lubusz Voivodeship, in western Poland, close to the Germany, German border. It lies approximately east of Gubin, Poland, Gubin, south-west of Kro ...

(west Poland) *

Pole, Botswana Pole is a village in the North-East District of Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, wi ...

, a village in the North East District of Botswana *

The West Pole, Texas Bee Cave is a city located in Travis County, Texas, United States. Its population was 9,144 as of the 2020 census. History Bee Cave was named by early settlers for a large cave of wild bees found near the site. A post office opened there under the ...

Hanbury Manor Hanbury Manor, centred on the multi-wing Hanbury Manor Hotel, is a converted late-Victorian country house and adjoining golf course in Thundridge, north of Ware, Hertfordshire, some north of Greater London. It is part of a leisure retreat and cou ...

, Ware, Hertfordshire, formerly known as "Poles"

Fictional

*"East Pole" and "West Pole", imaginary locations; Christopher Robin tells Winnie-the-Pooh that these exist as well but "people don't like talking about them"

Science, technology, and mathematics

Pole (electrical circuits) A terminal is the point at which a conductor from a component, device or network comes to an end. ''Terminal'' may also refer to an electrical connector at this endpoint, acting as the reusable interface to a conductor and creating a point whe ...

- In electrical circuit theory, a circuit

terminal Terminal may refer to: Computing Hardware * Terminal (electronics), a device for joining electrical circuits together * Terminal (telecommunication), a device communicating over a line * Computer terminal, a set of primary input and output devic ...

, either physical or abstract **

Electric battery An electric battery is a source of electric power consisting of one or more electrochemical cells with external connections for powering electrical devices. When a battery is supplying power, its positive terminal is the cathode and its negati ...

terminals * In switch contact terminology, the number of circuits controlled by a switch *

Pole (unit of length) The rod, perch, or pole (sometimes also lug) is a surveyor's tool and unit of length of various historical definitions, often between approximately 3 and 8 meters (9 ft 10 in and 26 ft 2 in). In modern US customary units ...

, a unit of length equal to 5 yards, or 16 feet (5.0292 metres): also known as a rod, or a perch * Landau pole, the energy scale where a coupling constant of a quantum field theory becomes infinite *

Magnetic pole Magnetic pole may refer to: * One of the two ends of a magnet * Magnetic monopole, a hypothetical elementary particle * The magnetic poles of astronomical bodies, a special case of magnets, especially: ** The North Magnetic Pole The north mag ...

, one of the two ends of a magnet *

Monopole (disambiguation) Monopole may refer to: * Magnetic monopole, or Dirac monopole, a hypothetical particle that may be loosely described as a magnet with only one pole * Monopole (mathematics), a connection over a principal bundle G with a section (the Higgs field) o ...

, multiple definitions * Mathematics ** Pole, one of the pair of antipodal points 90° away from a

great circle In mathematics, a great circle or orthodrome is the circular intersection of a sphere and a plane passing through the sphere's center point. Any arc of a great circle is a geodesic of the sphere, so that great circles in spherical geomet ...

on a sphere. ** Pole (complex analysis), a certain type of mathematical singularity **An element of the configuration of perspective triangles ** Pole and polar, a point that describes the position and orientation of a line with respect to a given circle ** Pole and polar line, a duality with respect to conic sections in projective geometry * Mechanics ** Pole, or origin of planes, a certain point on the

Mohr's circle Mohr's circle is a two-dimensional graphical representation of the transformation law for the Cauchy stress tensor. Mohr's circle is often used in calculations relating to mechanical engineering for materials' strength, geotechnical engineer ...

, used in stress analysis of materials * Meteorology **

Polar climate The polar climate regions are characterized by a lack of warm summers but with varying winters. Every month in a polar climate has an average temperature of less than . Regions with polar climate cover more than 20% of the Earth's area. Most of ...

, the climate of the polar regions, characterized by a lack of warm summers **

Polar front In meteorology, the polar front is the weather front boundary between the polar cell and the Ferrel cell around the 60° latitude, near the polar regions, in both hemisphere. At this boundary a sharp gradient in temperature occurs between these ...

, the boundary region between the polar cell and the Ferrel cell in each hemisphere *

Pole figure A pole figure is a graphical representation of the orientation of objects in space. For example, pole figures in the form of stereographic projections are used to represent the orientation distribution of crystallographic lattice plane (mathematics ...

, a method for representing crystal symmetry

Psychology and biology

*Anterior and posterior poles, surface vertices of the eye's lens * Fetal pole, a thickening on the margin of the yolk sac of a fetus during pregnancy *

Pole of kidney The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; blood ...

POLE (gene) DNA polymerase epsilon catalytic subunit is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''POLE'' gene. It is the central catalytic subunit of DNA polymerase epsilon. Clinical significance POLE, along with POLD1, has recently been associated w ...

, a DNA polymerase epsilon catalytic subunit – enzyme that in humans is encoded by the POLE gene * Cell (biology), either extremity of the main axis of a nucleus, cell, or organism. Important structures situated close to such extremities have also been regarded as poles (e.g. animal cell centrosomes). *

East Pole–West Pole divide The East Pole–West Pole divide in the fields of cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience is an intellectual schism between researchers subscribing to the psychological nativism, nativist and empiricism, empiricist schools of thought. The t ...

, an intellectual schism between researchers in the fields of cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience

Music

* Pole (musician), an electronica solo project by Stefan Betke * ''Pole'' (Stockhausen), a 1970 composition by Karlheinz Stockhausen * ''Pole'' (album)

Names and people

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...

, people originating from, or inhabiting, the country of Poland * Pole (surname) * Pole (musician), an electronic music artist named Stefan Betke

Fictional characters

*Pole, an opponent in the video game ''

Yie Ar Kung-Fu () is an arcade fighting game developed by Konami. It first had a limited Japanese release in October 1984, before having a wide release nationwide in January 1985 and then internationally in March 1985. Along with ''Karate Champ'' (1984), which ...

'' * Jill Pole, a fictional character from C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series

Politics

Pole (Venezuela) A New Era ( es, Un Nuevo Tiempo, UNT) is a centre-left political party in Venezuela. It received 11% of the vote in the 2008 regional elections. The party arose in Zulia State, Venezuela's most populous, and remains far stronger in its home r ...

(Polo), a political party in Venezuela