Meaning & use
telephone pole
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A tall wooden or concrete post that holds telephone and often electric wires above the ground.
Grammar: Countable: say a telephone pole, two telephone poles.
Patterns
- a telephone pole
- on a telephone pole
- wooden telephone pole
The workers climbed the telephone pole to fix the broken line.
A bird was sitting on the telephone pole outside our house.
The storm knocked down several telephone poles along the road.
Word forms
| plural | telephone poles |
|---|
Common combinations
- wooden telephone pole
- They replaced the old wooden telephone pole with a metal one.
- climb a telephone pole
- The technician had to climb the telephone pole to reach the wires.
- telephone pole wires
- The telephone pole wires were damaged in the storm.
- knock down a telephone pole
- The truck skidded and knocked down a telephone pole.
Synonyms and how they differ
- utility pole
- A more general term that can carry telephone, electric, or other cables; telephone pole is specific to telephone lines.
- telegraph pole
- An older term, now mostly used for poles that carry telegraph wires; telephone pole is the modern equivalent.
Word family
Commonly confused: telephone pole or utility pole?
telephone pole vs utility pole
Utility pole is a broader term that includes poles for electricity, telephone, and other services; telephone pole specifically carries telephone lines.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'telephone pole' correctly?
Choose one answer.
A telephone pole is a physical post that holds wires, so a bird can sit on it. The other options confuse it with a telephone device (ringing, dialing, plugging in).
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “telephone pole”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.