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poll1

[pohl]
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noun
  1. a sampling or collection of opinions on a subject, taken from either a selected or a random group of persons, as for the purpose of analysis.
  2. Usually polls. the place where votes are taken.
  3. the registering of votes, as at an election.
  4. the voting at an election.
  5. the number of votes cast.
  6. the numerical result of the voting.
  7. an enumeration or a list of individuals, as for purposes of taxing or voting.
  8. poll tax.
  9. a person or individual in a number or list.
  10. the head, especially the part of it on which the hair grows.
  11. the back of the head.
  12. the rear portion of the head of a horse; the nape.
  13. the part of the head between the ears of certain animals, as the horse and cow.
  14. the broad end or face of a hammer.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to take a sampling of the attitudes or opinions of.
  2. to receive at the polls, as votes.
  3. to enroll (someone) in a list or register, as for purposes of taxing or voting.
  4. to take or register the votes of (persons).
  5. to deposit or cast at the polls, as a vote.
  6. to bring to the polls, as voters.
  7. to cut short or cut off the hair, wool, etc., of (an animal); crop; clip; shear.
  8. to cut short or cut off (hair, wool, etc.).
  9. to cut off the top of (a tree); pollard.
  10. to cut off or cut short the horns of (cattle).
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verb (used without object)
  1. to vote at the polls; give one's vote.
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Origin of poll1

1250–1300; Middle English polle (hair of the) head < Middle Low German: hair of the head, top of a tree or other plant; akin to Danish puld, Swedish pull crown of the head
Related formspoll·a·ble, adjectivepoll·er, nounre·poll·ing, noun

poll2

[pol]
noun
  1. (especially at Cambridge University, England)
  2. the body of students who read for or obtain a degree without honors.
  3. Also called poll degree. pass degree.
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Origin of poll2

1785–95; apparently < Greek polloí, in hoi polloí the many; see poly-

poll3

[pol]
noun
  1. polly.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

countsurveyvoteopinionvotingballotenrollregistertallycanvassexamineinterviewsamplingsamplelist

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British Dictionary definitions for poll

poll

noun
  1. the casting, recording, or counting of votes in an election; a voting
  2. the result or quantity of such a votinga heavy poll
  3. Also called: opinion poll
    1. a canvassing of a representative sample of a large group of people on some question in order to determine the general opinion of the group
    2. the results or record of such a canvassing
  4. any counting or enumerationa poll of the number of men with long hair
  5. short for poll tax
  6. a list or enumeration of people, esp for taxation or voting purposes
  7. the striking face of a hammer
  8. the occipital or back part of the head of an animal
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verb (mainly tr)
  1. to receive (a vote or quantity of votes)he polled 10 000 votes
  2. to receive, take, or record the votes ofhe polled the whole town
  3. to canvass (a person, group, area, etc) as part of a survey of opinion
  4. mainly US to take the vote, verdict, opinion, etc, individually of each member (of a jury, conference, etc)
  5. (sometimes intr) to cast (a vote) in an election
  6. computing (in data transmission when several terminals share communications channels) to check each channel rapidly to establish which are free, or to call for data from each terminal in turn
  7. to clip or shear
  8. to remove or cut short the horns of (cattle)
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Word Origin

C13 (in the sense: a human head) and C17 (in the modern sense: a counting of heads, votes): from Middle Low German polle hair of the head, head, top of a tree; compare Swedish pull crown of the head
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for poll

n.

"head," early 14c., polle "hair of the head; piece of fur from the head of an animal," also "head," from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch pol "head, top." Sense extended early 14c. to "person, individual." Meaning "collection of votes" is first recorded 1620s, from notion of "counting heads;" meaning "survey of public opinion" is first recorded 1902. Poll tax, literally "head tax," is from 1690s. Literal use in English tends toward the part of the head where the hair grows.

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v.1

"to take the votes of," 1620s, from poll (n.). Related: Polled; polling. A deed poll "deed executed by one party only," is from earlier verbal meaning "cut the hair of," because the deed was cut straight rather than indented (see indent).

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v.2

"to cut, trim," late 14c., "to cut short the hair" (of an animal or person), from poll (n.). Of trees or plants from 1570s. Related: Polled; polling.

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Poll

fem. proper name, short for Polly. Noted from 1620s as a parrot's name.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper