ballot
Americannoun
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ballots
plural
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a slip or sheet of paper on which a person's vote is marked.
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the method of secret voting by means of printed or written slips or sheets of paper or by means of voting machines.
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voting in general, or a round of voting.
Our candidate was defeated on the third ballot.
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the list of candidates to be voted on.
They succeeded in getting her name placed on the ballot.
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the right to vote.
to gain the ballot after years of struggle.
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the whole number of votes cast or recorded.
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a system or the practice of drawing lots.
The assassin would be chosen by ballot.
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(formerly) a little ball used in voting.
verb (used without object)
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ballots,
present (3rd person singular)
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balloted,
past participle, past
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balloting
present participle
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to vote.
to ballot against a candidate.
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to draw lots.
to ballot for places.
verb (used with object)
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ballots,
present (3rd person singular)
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balloted,
past participle, past
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balloting
present participle
-
to canvass or solicit (a group, membership, etc.) for votes.
Members were balloted on the resolution.
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to select, especially for military service.
Certain age groups will not be balloted at this time.
noun
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the democratic practice of selecting a representative, a course of action, or deciding some other choice by submitting the options to a vote of all qualified persons
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an instance of voting, usually in secret using ballot papers or a voting machine
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the paper on which a vote is recorded
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a list of candidates standing for office
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the number of votes cast in an election
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a random selection of successful applicants for something in which the demand exceeds the supply, esp for shares in an oversubscribed new issue
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the allocation by ballot of farming land among eligible candidates, such as ex-servicemen
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a low-interest housing loan allocated by building societies by drawing lots among its eligible members
verb
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to vote or elicit a vote from
we balloted the members on this issue
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to select (officials, etc) by lot or ballot or to select (successful applicants) at random
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to vote or decide (on an issue, etc)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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balloternoun
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nonballotingnoun
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reballotnoun
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preballotverb (used with object)
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unballotedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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ballotsimple
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ballotssimple
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have ballotedperfect
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has ballotedperfect
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am ballotingprogressive
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are ballotingprogressive
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is ballotingprogressive
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have been ballotingperfect progressive
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has been ballotingperfect progressive
Past
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ballotedsimple
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had ballotedperfect
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was ballotingprogressive
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were ballotingprogressive
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had been ballotingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of ballot
First recorded in 1540–50; from Middle French ballotte, from Venetian Italian ballotta, equivalent to ball ( a ) ball 1 + -otta diminutive suffix
Explanation
A ballot is a document that lists the choices during an election. When running for office, a candidate’s first goal is getting on the ballot. This Italian-derived word has proven remarkably successful by adapting itself to evolving voting technologies. It has been applied to devices used for casting votes from ancient times to the present, whether consisting of pottery, paper or pixels. Any kind of device, whether on paper or a computer screen, can be called a ballot if it lists the candidates and allows you to vote.
Vocabulary lists containing ballot
Election Lingo
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Electoral Elocution: The Verbiage of Voting
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Academy Awards, List 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"Pretend I'm on the ballot," Trump told Fox News on Wednesday.
From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026
None of them actually cast a ballot or completed a registration.
From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2026
The 2008 ballot measure passed narrowly, 52.7% to 47.3%, kick-starting America’s largest active infrastructure project.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
A PCS ballot registered 95% in favour of industrial action.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
Another critical factor was that it was not only the Alice Pauls and other upper-middle-class women who were instrumental in women gaining the ballot.
From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler
"Most Plaintiff States have already ordered their mail ballots, and some are required by state law to send them to eligible voters as early as next week," Talwani wrote.
From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026
But now it is, and the No. 3 winner, with 3,800 ballots, is Dan J. Sullivan Jr., or “Decoy Dan,” as some call him.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
This election will draw only the most committed voters to come out and cast ballots at such an odd time.
From Slate ● Aug. 25, 2026
About 30% of the nation’s voters — and 80% of Californians — cast their ballots by mail in 2024.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
The election officials sat at a long table with ballots on it, and also big wooden boxes for the votes.
From "Taste of Salt: A Story of Modern Haiti" by Frances Temple
Ben Davis, Unite regional officer, said: "Red Handling has returned to negotiations and made an improved offer and therefore Unite has suspended strike action to allow members to be balloted on the proposals."
From BBC ● May 16, 2025
Of the 83 hotels in Liverpool balloted about the visitor charge, 59% were in favour, on a turnout of 53%.
From BBC ● Apr. 25, 2025
And staff at the University of Edinburgh are also being balloted on strike action in a dispute over plans to cut £140m from its budget and fears of compulsory redundancies.
From BBC ● Apr. 15, 2025
Earlier this month, the Unite union said members would be balloted on strike action following reports the institution could cut up to 700 jobs.
From BBC ● Apr. 15, 2025
The committee on the petition of Mr. C. B., a candidate for initiation, reported favorably, whereupon he was balloted for and duly elected.
From The Principles of Masonic Law A Treatise on the Constitutional Laws, Usages and Landmarks of Freemasonry by Albert G. Mackey
Such is the case after last week’s Lone Star State balloting, in which 2.3 million Texans voted in the Democratic primary and 2.2 million in the Republican primary.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 11, 2026
States have ultimate responsibility for voter registration rolls, the kind of machinery used to conduct balloting, the rules for contesting elections, laws prescribing how candidates qualify to appear on the ballot, and much more.
From Slate ● Feb. 3, 2026
AFP journalists saw balloting begin in the second city of Mandalay, where 53-year-old teacher Zaw Ko Ko Myint cast his vote at a high school around dawn.
From Barron's ● Jan. 24, 2026
The UCU is already balloting members at Strathclyde about possible strike action over redundancies.
From BBC ● Jan. 19, 2026
The balloting proceeded without incident on a shining September morning.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
