How to Use totem pole in a Sentence

totem pole

noun
  • The totem pole was the kind of quirky thing locals brag about.
    — Los Angeles Times, 4 Mar. 2026
  • Her nurse asked me to rank my pain on a totem pole of emojis.
    — WIRED, 9 Feb. 2023
  • The low man on the totem pole or the top guy, there’s none of that with us.
    — Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2019
  • Climbing to the top of the ugliest dog totem pole is no easy feat.
    — Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, 25 June 2019
  • This summer will be the first time the group has made and moved such a large totem pole.
    — Washington Post, 19 June 2021
  • The third digit seems to be how high a chip sits on the totem pole in terms of speed.
    — Sean Hollister, The Verge, 1 Aug. 2019
  • Stephen covers his wife’s body with his own, their faces stacked on the screen like a totem pole.
    — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 18 Oct. 2024
  • But finding a spot for the enormous totem pole in a city filled with red tape has been tough.
    — Washington Post, 28 Mar. 2021
  • Even people far down the Twitter totem pole have worked that out.
    — Felix Salmon, WIRED, 5 June 2018
  • Newer are small totem poles and gnomes that wear a Cheesehead wedge.
    — Mary Bergin, chicagotribune.com, 2 Dec. 2019
  • Sacrificing guys at the low end of the totem pole for the guys at the top.
    — Kevin Paul Dupont, BostonGlobe.com, 20 July 2019
  • For a player already low on the totem pole, injuries lead to pink slips.
    — Zak Keefer, Indianapolis Star, 24 Sep. 2017
  • There was a dress, this beautiful column, that was a totem pole.
    — Chadd Scott, Forbes, 26 Aug. 2022
  • But that one opinion can be just as wrong as that of the lowest person on the totem pole.
    — David Murphy, Philly.com, 20 June 2018
  • Tremble, Sanders and Evans are the first three guys on the tight end totem pole.
    — Charlotte Observer, 9 June 2026
  • In groups with alpha males, monkeys lower on the totem pole may have to sneak around to mate.
    — Elizabeth Preston, Discover Magazine, 4 Aug. 2015
  • But sound might be last on the totem pole, so people now, in the last two years, listen with their eyes.
    — Mark Elibert, Billboard, 14 Feb. 2022
  • Elvis Peguero, the next reliever on the totem pole, had pitched in five of six days.
    — Journal Sentinel, 30 June 2023
  • For me, ketchup is pretty low on the totem pole, while ranch is and always has been a favorite.
    — Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 30 Dec. 2024
  • For me, ketchup is pretty low on the totem pole, while ranch is and always has been a favorite.
    — Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 6 Sep. 2025
  • For me, ketchup is pretty low on the totem pole, while ranch is and always has been a favorite.
    — Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 6 Sep. 2025
  • The Hornets have been at the bottom of the totem pole for the past handful of years.
    — Benedict Cosgrove, Newsweek, 19 Dec. 2024
  • This meme is a totem pole for Nazi youth in training, the standings in a pennant race of killers.
    — Paul Solotaroff, Rolling Stone, 30 Jan. 2022
  • Kake makes claim to having the world’s largest totem pole carved from a single tree – a Sitka spruce.
    — Dan Fellner, The Arizona Republic, 26 Aug. 2022
  • The totem pole will then be returned to its original site in South Bentinck.
    — Alaa Elassar, CNN, 19 Feb. 2023
  • Norman Tait of the Nisga'a people carved the 21-foot totem pole.
    — Jeremy Duda, Axios, 8 Jan. 2025
  • The totem pole has been on loan to the institution since 2017.
    — Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, 4 Oct. 2019
  • If Brunson can join Towns at the top of the totem pole, the Knicks won’t be easy to beat.
    — Fred Katz, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2026
  • Visitors can see totem poles throughout Ketchikan, but there are three clusters.
    — Eve Chen, USA Today, 9 Jan. 2026
  • Measuring about 43 inches wide, the totem pole was made in roughly three months.
    — Washington Post, 28 Mar. 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'totem pole.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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