poll
(pōl)n.1. The casting and registering of votes in an election.
2. The number of votes cast or recorded.
3. pollsa. The places where votes are cast and registered during an election, considered as a group: The polls close in this state at 8:00.
b. A place where votes are cast and registered: I went to the polls before work to cast a vote.
4. A survey of the public or of a sample of public opinion to acquire information.
5. The head, especially the top of the head where hair grows.
6. The blunt or broad end of a tool such as a hammer or axe.
v. polled, poll·ing, polls
v.tr.1. To receive (a given number of votes).
2. To receive or record the votes of: polling a jury.
3. To cast (a vote or ballot).
4. To question in a survey; canvass.
5. To cut off or trim (hair, horns, or wool, for example); clip.
6. To trim or cut off the hair, wool, branches, or horns of: polled the sheep; polled the trees.
v.intr. To vote at the polls in an election.
[Middle English pol, head, from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch.]
poll′er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
poll
(pəʊl) n1. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) the casting, recording, or counting of votes in an election; a voting
2. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) the result or quantity of such a voting: a heavy poll.
3. a. 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
b. the results or record of such a canvassing
4. any counting or enumeration: a poll of the number of men with long hair.
5. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) short for
poll tax 6. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) a list or enumeration of people, esp for taxation or voting purposes
7. (Tools) the striking face of a hammer
8. (Anatomy) the occipital or back part of the head of an animal
vb (
mainly tr)
9. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) to receive (a vote or quantity of votes): he polled 10 000 votes.
10. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) to receive, take, or record the votes of: he polled the whole town.
11. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) to canvass (a person, group, area, etc) as part of a survey of opinion
12. chiefly US to take the vote, verdict, opinion, etc, individually of each member (of a jury, conference, etc)
13. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) (sometimes intr) to cast (a vote) in an election
14. (Computer Science) 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
15. to clip or shear
16. (Agriculture) to remove or cut short the horns of (cattle)
[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 and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
poll
(poʊl)
n. 1. a sampling or collection of opinions on a subject, taken from a selected or random group of persons, as for the purpose of analysis.
2. the act of voting in an election.
3. the registration of such votes.
4. Usu., polls. the place where votes are cast.
5. the number of votes cast.
6. a list or enumeration of individuals, as for purposes of taxing or voting.
7. the head, esp. the part of it on which the hair grows.
8. the back of the head.
9. the rear portion of the head of a horse; the nape.
10. the part of the head between the ears of certain animals, as the horse and cow.
11. the broad end or face of a hammer.
v.t. 12. to take a sampling of the attitudes or opinions of.
13. to receive at the polls, as votes.
14. to enroll (someone) in a list or register, as for purposes of taxing or voting.
15. to take or register the votes of (persons).
16. to deposit or cast at the polls, as a vote.
17. to bring to the polls, as voters.
18. to cut short or cut off the hair, wool, etc., of (an animal) or the horns of (cattle).
19. to cut short or cut off (hair, wool, etc.).
20. to cut off the top of (a tree); pollard.
v.i. 21. to vote at the polls; cast one's vote.
[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 Swedish pull crown of the head]
poll′er, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.