"greasy pole" meaning in English

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "greasy poles",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "greasy pole (countable and uncountable, plural greasy poles)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "94 3 3",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "83 8 9",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "92 4 4",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "93 3 4",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "75 9 16",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Catalan translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "71 9 20",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Indonesian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "83 8 9",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Italian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "86 6 8",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A sporting event that involves staying on, climbing up, walking over or otherwise traversing a pole that has been made slippery."
      ],
      "id": "en-greasy_pole-en-noun-G8Bpzf28",
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1886, Thomas Hardy, chapter 16, in The Mayor of Casterbridge:",
          "text": "He advertised about the town, in long posters of a pink colour, that games of all sorts would take place here; and set to work a little battalion of men under his own eye. They erected greasy-poles for climbing, with smoked hams and local cheeses at the top.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1938 April, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter VII, in Homage to Catalonia, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC:",
          "text": "The mud was unspeakable. The paths through the beet-fields were simply a succession of lumps, as slippery as a greasy pole, with huge pools everywhere.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The slippery pole used in the event."
      ],
      "id": "en-greasy_pole-en-noun-v7E4uQcC",
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "38 61 2",
          "word": "grease pole"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "38 61 2",
          "word": "greased pole"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1869, Benjamin Disraeli, quoted in Metaphor and Thought, Cambridge University Press →ISBN, page 238",
          "text": "I have climbed to the top of the greasy pole."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2009, Franz Bosbach, John R. Davis, Andreas Fahrmeir, Industrieentwicklung / Promotion of Industry: An Anglo-German Dialogue: Ein deutsch-britischer Dialog, Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 97:",
          "text": "Merkel sacrificed her “Thatcherite” agenda to get to the top of the greasy pole. One should be careful, however, with explanations that reduce Merkel to a mere tactician.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2013, Sasha Fenton, Unexplained Zodiac: The Inside Story of Your Sign, Charlesbridge, →ISBN, page 49:",
          "text": "They have strong opinions, which they moderate while climbing up the greasy pole of politics or advancement at work.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The work and scheming that leads to the position of prime minister or other leadership position."
      ],
      "id": "en-greasy_pole-en-noun-RgbXAvUU",
      "links": [
        [
          "prime minister",
          "prime minister"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figurative) The work and scheming that leads to the position of prime minister or other leadership position."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "figuratively",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "_dis1": "53 47 0",
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "event",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "cucanya"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "53 47 0",
      "code": "id",
      "lang": "Indonesian",
      "sense": "event",
      "word": "panjat pinang"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "53 47 0",
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "event",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "cuccagna"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "53 47 0",
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "event",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "cucaña"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "greasy pole"
  ],
  "word": "greasy pole"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Catalan translations",
    "Terms with Indonesian translations",
    "Terms with Italian translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "greasy poles",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "greasy pole (countable and uncountable, plural greasy poles)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A sporting event that involves staying on, climbing up, walking over or otherwise traversing a pole that has been made slippery."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1886, Thomas Hardy, chapter 16, in The Mayor of Casterbridge:",
          "text": "He advertised about the town, in long posters of a pink colour, that games of all sorts would take place here; and set to work a little battalion of men under his own eye. They erected greasy-poles for climbing, with smoked hams and local cheeses at the top.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1938 April, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter VII, in Homage to Catalonia, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC:",
          "text": "The mud was unspeakable. The paths through the beet-fields were simply a succession of lumps, as slippery as a greasy pole, with huge pools everywhere.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The slippery pole used in the event."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1869, Benjamin Disraeli, quoted in Metaphor and Thought, Cambridge University Press →ISBN, page 238",
          "text": "I have climbed to the top of the greasy pole."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2009, Franz Bosbach, John R. Davis, Andreas Fahrmeir, Industrieentwicklung / Promotion of Industry: An Anglo-German Dialogue: Ein deutsch-britischer Dialog, Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 97:",
          "text": "Merkel sacrificed her “Thatcherite” agenda to get to the top of the greasy pole. One should be careful, however, with explanations that reduce Merkel to a mere tactician.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2013, Sasha Fenton, Unexplained Zodiac: The Inside Story of Your Sign, Charlesbridge, →ISBN, page 49:",
          "text": "They have strong opinions, which they moderate while climbing up the greasy pole of politics or advancement at work.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The work and scheming that leads to the position of prime minister or other leadership position."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "prime minister",
          "prime minister"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figurative) The work and scheming that leads to the position of prime minister or other leadership position."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "figuratively",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "grease pole"
    },
    {
      "word": "greased pole"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "event",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "cucanya"
    },
    {
      "code": "id",
      "lang": "Indonesian",
      "sense": "event",
      "word": "panjat pinang"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "event",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "cuccagna"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "event",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "cucaña"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "greasy pole"
  ],
  "word": "greasy pole"
}