# poling

Pronunciation: say "POHL-ing" US /ˈpoʊlɪŋ/, UK /ˈpəʊlɪŋ/, AUS /ˈpəʉlɪŋ/

## Verb

1. Present participle and gerund of pole. — present participle and gerund of pole
   - Simple: Present participle and gerund of pole. Use this -ing form for the action as it happens.
   - _Poling the punt upstream took real skill against the current._
   - _She steadied herself while poling the boat past the reeds._

## Noun

2. The act of propelling a boat or supporting a structure by means of a pole or poles.
   - Simple: Pushing a boat along, or holding something steady, by using a long pole.
   - _Poling kept the barge moving where the water was too shallow for oars._
   - _The crew relied on poling to guide the flat-bottomed boat through the swamp._
3. A pole or plank used to hold up the side earth when excavating a tunnel, ditch, or similar opening.
   - Simple: A board or plank used to hold back the dirt at the side of a tunnel or ditch while digging.
   - _As the tunnel advanced, miners drove a fresh poling against the exposed clay._
   - _A loose poling let a stream of gravel spill onto the workers below._
4. The operation of dispersing wormcasts across garden walks by means of poles.
   - Simple: Spreading out the little soil piles that worms leave on garden paths, using long poles.
   - _The head gardener scheduled poling each morning to keep the walks neat._
   - _A light poling cleared the casts before the lawn was rolled._

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/poling (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).