poll

[pohl]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR poll ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.

Usually polls. the place where votes are taken.

the registering of votes, as at an election.

the voting at an election.

the number of votes cast.

the numerical result of the voting.

an enumeration or a list of individuals, as for purposes of taxing or voting.

poll tax.

a person or individual in a number or list.

the head, especially the part of it on which the hair grows.

the back of the head.

the rear portion of the head of a horse; the nape.

the part of the head between the ears of certain animals, as the horse and cow.

the broad end or face of a hammer.

verb (used with object)

to take a sampling of the attitudes or opinions of.

to receive at the polls, as votes.

to enroll (someone) in a list or register, as for purposes of taxing or voting.

to take or register the votes of (persons).

to deposit or cast at the polls, as a vote.

to bring to the polls, as voters.

to cut short or cut off the hair, wool, etc., of (an animal); crop; clip; shear.

to cut short or cut off (hair, wool, etc.).

to cut off the top of (a tree); pollard.

to cut off or cut short the horns of (cattle).

verb (used without object)

to vote at the polls; give one's vote.

Origin of poll

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

poll

[pol]

noun

(especially at Cambridge University, England)

the body of students who read for or obtain a degree without honors.

Also called poll degree. pass degree.

Origin of poll

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

poll

[pol]

noun

polly.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for poll

Contemporary Examples of poll

But so-called jungle primaries are notoriously hard to predict or poll.
The Golden State Preps for the ‘Red Wedding’ of Senate Races
David Freedlander
January 9, 2015
And this is a poll, remember, not of Latinos, or of Cuban-Americans across the country.
Rubio’s Embargo Anger Plays to the Past
Michael Tomasky
December 19, 2014
In an Oct. 31 poll from Washington, 12 percent of women claimed they were undecided about Initiative 502.
Women Are Leading the Way for Legalized Weed
Abby Haglage
December 4, 2014
Poll a bunch of random youths today, and nine out of ten will say they know the name Robert Downey Jr.
The Renegade: Robert Downey Sr. on His Classic Films, Son’s Battle with Drugs, and Bill Cosby
Marlow Stern
November 26, 2014
It was the kind of political illegality that Doar and his 500 poll watchers had been looking for.
Honoring The Late John Doar, A Nearly Forgotten Hero Of The Civil Rights Era
Gary May
November 15, 2014

Historical Examples of poll

Unaware of his funeral, Timmins himself stood scratching his poll.
Quaint Courtships
Various
But somebody must have dealt you some hearty thwacks on the poll, my boy.
In the Valley
Harold Frederic
The first time I ever see that boy,' said Poll, 'I charged him too much for a red-poll.
Life And Adventures Of Martin Chuzzlewit
Charles Dickens
When a politician reached the top of the poll he got £400 a year.
Punch or the London Charivari, Vol. 147, July 8, 1914
Various
"It is as unfair to brand women with chastity as with unchastity," said Poll.
Monday or Tuesday
Virginia Woolf

British Dictionary definitions for poll

poll

noun

the casting, recording, or counting of votes in an election; a voting

the result or quantity of such a votinga heavy poll

Also called: opinion poll

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
the results or record of such a canvassing

any counting or enumerationa poll of the number of men with long hair

short for poll tax

a list or enumeration of people, esp for taxation or voting purposes

the striking face of a hammer

the occipital or back part of the head of an animal

verb (mainly tr)

to receive (a vote or quantity of votes)he polled 10 000 votes

to receive, take, or record the votes ofhe polled the whole town

to canvass (a person, group, area, etc) as part of a survey of opinion

mainly US to take the vote, verdict, opinion, etc, individually of each member (of a jury, conference, etc)

(sometimes intr) to cast (a vote) in an election

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

to clip or shear

to remove or cut short the horns of (cattle)

Word Origin for poll

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

"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.

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).

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.

Poll

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

poll

noun

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

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Origin of poll

poll

noun

Origin of poll

poll

noun

Examples from the Web for poll

Contemporary Examples of poll

Historical Examples of poll

poll

noun

verb (mainly tr)

Word Origin for poll

Poll