flagpole

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a tall pole from which a flag is flown

   They raised the school flag to the top of the flagpole.

2. 2
   noun

   surveying: a straight marked pole used for sighting and measuring

   The surveyor aligned the flagpole with the distant boundary marker.

A compound of flag + pole. The ordinary sense names the staff on which a flag is raised; surveying later applied the same word to a visible marked pole used as a ranging target.

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