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Glite Dictionary
north-polar

north-polar

1 6.5
Relating to the area around the North Pole, the Arctic
  • adjective
  • /nɔrθˈpoʊlər/
translation icon : polar del norte
  • A new mosaic from ESA's Mars Express shows off the Red Planet's north polar ice cap and its distinctive dark spiraling troughs.
  • north-polar region
  • north-polar cap
  • north-polar ice

Examples

  • In 2008, the Phoenix Mars Lander confirmed the existence of ice in the top few inches of the north polar region.

  • Now, of course, there's the Arctic Circle up here, or the OR the north polar ice cap, which still exists a little bit.

  • The planet's dark surface markings begin to stand out, although the easiest feature to see will be the bright north polar cap.

    Academic text (2007)

  • If scientists are right, and the north polar region is ice-free in summer in a few decades, then I find it hard to believe that there will not be a rush to drill for oil.

    Blog text (17)

  • "And the north polar region is ice-free in summer in a few decades," ice-free by 2015-16 at the latest.

    Blog text (17)

  • The Phoenix lander touched down in Mars' north polar region to learn more about this extreme environment.

Synonyms

polar
vsnorth-polar
121 4.2

Relating to the North or South Pole and the very cold regions there

is limited to the high latitude area near the top rather than both ends
Arctic
vsnorth-polar
100 3.9

Relating to the area around the North Pole or its very cold weather

is the general adjective for that same high latitude area

Antonyms

south-polar
1 7.3

Near the South Pole on Earth

Surface Forms

north-polar positive

Morphology

north-polar = north + polar (transparent) = north + polar

The adjective is a straightforward hyphenated compound of 'north' + 'polar', so its meaning ('relating to the North Pole/Arctic') follows directly from the components.

Etymology

The word north-polar comes from two parts, north and polar, and polar comes from a root that means 'pole', the top or bottom point of the Earth, just like the everyday word pole. So, north-polar means 'relating to the North Pole', which is why we use it for the Arctic region.