totem pole

noun

Updated on: 21 Mar 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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See totem pole defined for kids

Recent Examples of totem pole from the Web

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
Aisle after aisle of crabs stacked atop each other like totem poles, tables with fish sprawled across every inch, cutting boards where women with machetes skin poisonous blowfish and slice out the meat.

— mitch goldich, SI.com, "Squid Ink Ice Cream! Jeju Black Pig! One Gluttonous Day Exploring Local Cuisine Outside PyeongChang," 15 Feb. 2018
One weathered totem pole after another appears, a towering cedar menagerie of killer whales, ravens, beavers and bears, tilted and vulnerable.

— margo pfeiff, San Francisco Chronicle, "Cruise: Voyaging sacred waters of B.C.’s ancient islands," 11 Jan. 2018
Seated in the open air next to his seaside home, he is surrounded by the smell of fresh cedar shavings littered around a giant totem pole, his latest project.

— margo pfeiff, San Francisco Chronicle, "Cruise: Voyaging sacred waters of B.C.’s ancient islands," 11 Jan. 2018
The totem poles weigh 2,000 pounds not 20,000 pounds.

— erin blakemore, Smithsonian, "The Powerful Story Behind Glacier Bay National Park’s New Totem Poles," 30 May 2017
As of now, the likes of Oklahoma State, Virginia Tech and Washington appear to be on the low end of the totem pole.

— lorenzo arguello, SI.com, "College Football Playoff Rankings Preview: Three Questions About the First Top Four," 31 Oct. 2017
But the vast majority of the time, the position of dogcatcher—considered the lowest of the low on the political totem pole—has simply been the butt of jokes.

— ben zimmer, WSJ, "The History of the ‘Dogcatcher’ Insult," 27 Oct. 2017

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

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