Part 379

Po"lar*i`zer (?), n. (Physics) That which polarizes; especially, the part of a polariscope which receives and polarizes the light. It is usually a reflecting plate, or a plate of some crystal, as tourmaline, or a doubly refracting crystal.

Po"lar*y (?), a. Tending to a pole; having a direction toward a pole. [R.] Sir T. Browne.

||Po`la`touche" (?), n. [F.] (Zoˆl.) A flying squirrel (Sciuropterus ||volans) native of Northern Europe and Siberia; -- called also minene.

Pol"der (?), n. [D.] A tract of low land reclaimed from the sea by of high embankments. [Holland & Belgium]

Pold"way` (?), n. [Cf. Poledavy.] A kind of coarse bagging, -- used for coal sacks. Weale.

Pole (?), n. [Cf. G. Pole a Pole, Polen Poland.] A native or inhabitant of Poland; a Polander.

Pole, n. [As. pl, 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 (Zoˆl.), 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.

Pole, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Poled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Poling.] 1. To furnish with poles for support; as, to pole beans or hops.

2. To convey on poles; as, to pole hay into a barn.

3. To impel by a pole or poles, as a boat.

4. To stir, as molten glass, with a pole.

Pole, n. [L. polus, Gr. &?; a pivot or hinge on which anything turns, an axis, a pole; akin to &?; to move: cf. F. pÙle.] 1. Either extremity of an axis of a sphere; especially, one of the extremities of the earth's axis; as, the north pole.

2. (Spherics) A point upon the surface of a sphere equally distant from every part of the circumference of a great circle; or the point in which a diameter of the sphere perpendicular to the plane of such circle meets the surface. Such a point is called the pole of that circle; as, the pole of the horizon; the pole of the ecliptic; the pole of a given meridian.

3. (Physics) One of the opposite or contrasted parts or directions in which a polar force is manifested; a point of maximum intensity of a force which has two such points, or which has polarity; as, the poles of a magnet; the north pole of a needle.

4. The firmament; the sky. [Poetic]

Shoots against the dusky pole.

Milton.

5. (Geom.) See Polarity, and Polar, n.

Magnetic pole. See under Magnetic. -- Poles of the earth, or Terrestrial poles (Geog.), the two opposite points on the earth's surface through which its axis passes. -- Poles of the heavens, or Celestial poles, the two opposite points in the celestial sphere which coincide with the earth's axis produced, and about which the heavens appear to revolve.

{ Pole"ax`, Pole"axe` } (?), n. [OE. pollax; cf. OD. pollexe. See Poll head, and Ax.] Anciently, a kind of battle-ax with a long handle; later, an ax or hatchet with a short handle, and a head variously patterned; -- used by soldiers, and also by sailors in boarding a vessel.

Pole"cat` (?), n. [Probably fr. F. poule hen, and originally, a poultry cat, because it feeds on poultry. See Poultry.] (Zoˆl.) (a) A small European carnivore of the Weasel family (Putorius fútidus). Its scent glands secrete a substance of an exceedingly disagreeable odor. Called also fitchet, foulmart, and European ferret. (b) The zorilla. The name is also applied to other allied species.

Pole"da`vy (?), n. [Etymology uncertain.] A sort of coarse canvas; poldway. [Obs.] Howell.

Pole"less, a. Without a pole; as, a poleless chariot.

Pol"e*march (?), n. [Gr. &?;; &?; war + &?; leader, from &?; to be first.] (Gr. Antiq.) In Athens, originally, the military commanderin-chief; but, afterward, a civil magistrate who had jurisdiction in respect of strangers and sojourners. In other Grecian cities, a high military and civil officer.

Po*lem"ic (?), a. [Gr. &?; warlike, fr.&?; war: cf. F. polÈmique.] 1. Of or pertaining to controversy; maintaining, or involving, controversy; controversial; disputative; as, a polemic discourse or essay; polemic theology.

2. Engaged in, or addicted to, polemics, or to controversy; disputations; as, a polemic writer. South.