palo

pole

noun PAH-loh Rare

Origin: Latin palus (stake, pole)

Also means

stake

Usage Note

Palo refers to any vertical post or pole — a telegraph pole (palo del telefono), a goalpost (palo della porta in football), or a wooden stake. In colloquial Italian fare il palo means to act as a lookout during a crime, a vivid idiomatic extension of 'standing like a post'. The regular plural is pali.

Examples

"Il pallone ha colpito il palo della porta."

Natural Translation

The ball hit the goalpost.

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