polar

Everyday

1. To do with the North Pole or the South Pole, or the very cold areas around them. tree →
2. Completely opposite: "polar opposites". tree →
3. In science, to do with the poles of a magnet or of the Earth. tree →

In the lessons

In geography and science, polar regions are the Arctic around the North Pole and the Antarctic around the South Pole; they are very cold, icy and have long days in summer and long nights in winter. Polar animals such as polar bears, penguins and seals are adapted to cold. Phrases: polar bear, polar region, polar ice caps, polar opposites, polar night.

Examples

• Polar bears live in the Arctic. tree →
• Penguins live in the southern polar region. tree →
• The polar ice caps are melting as the Earth warms. tree →
• In polar winters the sun may not rise for weeks. tree →
• My brother and I are polar opposites: he is loud and I am quiet. tree →
• Explorers need special clothes for polar journeys. tree →
• We made a model of a polar habitat in class. tree →
• Birds from the Polar regions came flying here, and of course the stork and the swallow were not absent. tree →

Note

It is an adjective only; you cannot say "more polar" in normal use. "Polar" comes from "pole". Myth: polar bears and penguins do not live together; polar bears are in the Arctic (north) and penguins mostly in the Antarctic and the southern seas. "Polar opposites" means as different as can be.