noun

• 1The horizontal pole of a long tent.

  ‘Both of these are big enough for quartering an elk or lopping off a ridge pole for your tent, yet they're sufficiently thin to do a good job of slicing bacon for the breakfast skillet.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘The ridge pole (this fieldhouse has two - only one shown) and side diagonal braces are attached by duct tape - perfect for this temporary construction.’

• 2A horizontal beam along the ridge of a roof, into which the rafters are fastened.

  ‘Next, Moore says, place the middle of the roll on the ridge pole, the purlin or brace that runs down the peak.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘The rafters have crumbled, the ridge pole is smashed!’
  • ‘Later sages established the standards [of housing] with ridge poles and rafters above and foundations below to provide shelter from wind and rain.’