'Under bare poles' definitions:

Definition of 'Under bare poles'

From: GCIDE
  • Bare \Bare\ (b[^a]r), a. [OE. bar, bare, AS. b[ae]r; akin to D. & G. baar, OHG. par, Icel. berr, Sw. & Dan. bar, Oslav. bos[u^] barefoot, Lith. basas; cf. Skr. bh[=a]s to shine. [root]85.] [1913 Webster]
  • 1. Without clothes or covering; stripped of the usual covering; naked; as, his body is bare; the trees are bare. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. With head uncovered; bareheaded. [1913 Webster]
  • When once thy foot enters the church, be bare. --Herbert. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. Without anything to cover up or conceal one's thoughts or actions; open to view; exposed. [1913 Webster]
  • Bare in thy guilt, how foul must thou appear ! --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. Plain; simple; unadorned; without polish; bald; meager. "Uttering bare truth." --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. Destitute; indigent; empty; unfurnished or scantily furnished; -- used with of (rarely with in) before the thing wanting or taken away; as, a room bare of furniture. "A bare treasury." --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. Threadbare; much worn. [1913 Webster]
  • It appears by their bare liveries that they live by your bare words. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 7. Mere; alone; unaccompanied by anything else; as, a bare majority. "The bare necessaries of life." --Addison. [1913 Webster]
  • Nor are men prevailed upon by bare words. --South. [1913 Webster]
  • Under bare poles (Naut.), having no sail set. [1913 Webster]