totem pole

noun

|Updated on: 12 Jun 2018

Definition of totem pole

1 : a pole or pillar carved and painted with a series of totemic symbols representing family lineage and often mythical or historical incidents and erected by Indian tribes of the northwest coast of North America

2 : an order of rank : hierarchy

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Recent Examples of totem pole from the Web

Margaret thrills to the uncertainty of the moment—and to the idea of being pushed from the top of the totem pole.

— julie miller, HWD, "The Crown: Vanessa Kirby Takes Us Inside Princess Margaret’s “Sexual Awakening”," 8 June 2018
Even people far down the Twitter totem pole have worked that out.

— felix salmon, WIRED, "Elon Musk and the Unnerving Influence of Twitter's Power Users," 5 June 2018
Walk the pathways and take time at each totem pole at Sitka National Historic Park.

— jenna schnuer, Anchorage Daily News, "Kodiak and Southeast Alaska: Where coastal pleasures abound," 3 May 2018
Terberger sees a more recent parallel: the totem poles of the Pacific Northwest, meant to honor gods or venerate ancestors.

— andrew curry, Science | AAAS, "This 11,000-year-old statue unearthed in Siberia may reveal ancient views of taboos and demons," 25 Apr. 2018
At the top of the totem pole, tech leadership is comprised of 15.6 percent women and 84.4 percent men.

— shannon liao, The Verge, "Uber’s tech jobs still go to predominantly white men under new CEO," 24 Apr. 2018
Thunderbird Park on Belleville Street is a quiet spot among the trees, where a regional First Nations house and totem poles were recreated by the Kwakwaka’wakw master carver Mungo Martin in the 1950s.

— New York Times, "36 Hours in Victoria, British Columbia," 12 Apr. 2018
The Lummi Nation has planned a 27-day, 13-stop tour with a totem pole designed to honor Lolita, which will end with a two-day event in Miami on May 23 and 24.

— chabeli herrera, miamiherald, "Freeing Lolita from the Miami Seaquarium is a ‘sacred obligation’ for this tribe | Miami Herald," 13 Mar. 2018
Look at the lower-end of the totem pole and a pattern emerges: many of the actors are minorities and, oddly, many of the names have earned critical acclaim for their roles, but their pay doesn’t seem to be commensurate with their cultural impact.

— tufayel ahmed, Newsweek, "TV Star Salaries Reveal Pay Gap Between White and Minority Actors," 5 Oct. 2016

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'totem pole.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Illustration of totem pole

First Known Use of totem pole

1880

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

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TOTEM POLE Defined for English Language Learners

totem pole

noun

Definition of totem pole for English Language Learners

: a tall usually wooden pole that is carved and painted with symbols, figures, or masks which represent different Native American tribes
—used to describe someone's position or level in a company or organization