pole vault 
noun [mass noun] (the pole vault)
1An athletic event in which competitors attempt to vault over a high bar with the aid of an extremely long flexible pole: the pole vault has always been easy for him...
- We are very strong here in Sligo on the track, but quite weak in some field events such as pole vault, high jump and hammer.
- Her twin sister Lindsay, a former heptathlete at Brown University, now competes in pole vault and finished eighth at 2004 Trials.
- We're used to the triple jump and pole vault, having watched them for years.
1.1 [count noun] A vault performed in the pole vault athletic event: he blew three pole vaults at the US trials...
- The 26-year-old from Essex paid the price for a poor pole vault on Tuesday afternoon which moved him out of contention for a medal and he began the final event in fifth place
- Macey had seen his chances of a medal disappear earlier in the day, thanks to a poor pole vault where he only managed 4.40m.
- But you can't beat the rhythmic clapping of fans before a dramatic pole vault or jump attempt.
verb (pole-vault) [no object]
Perform a pole vault: our heroes pole-vault to safety (as noun pole-vaulting) I took to pole-vaulting right away...
- She learned to hang-glide, to pole-vault, to jump with ease on skateboard and ski.
- And in a movie that's a decathlon of bad acting and worse accents, she can out pole-vault, run, shotput and triple-jump the very worst this movie can throw up.
- Ryan's of Parkgate Street announced with some fanfare that it had a special Greek menu to celebrate the Olympics, so I pole-vaulted down with my broadcaster friend.
Derivatives
pole-vaulter
/ /ˈpəʊlˌvɒltə / noun ...- In fact, the athlete's height plays a much less significant role than in the high jump: several world-class male pole-vaulters have been under six feet.
- In addition, two first-year pole-vaulters set school records in their first actual competition of the season.
- Today's top pole-vaulters can jump a lot higher than 12 feet.