poll

 
Pronunciation: /pəʊl/

noun

  • 1 (often the polls) the process of voting in an election: the country went to the polls on March 10
  • the number of votes cast in an election: the ruling party won 24 seats, narrowly topping the poll
  • (the polls) the places where votes are cast in an election: the polls have only just closed
  • short for opinion poll
  • 2 dialect a person’s head.
  • the part of the head on which hair grows; the scalp.
  • 3a hornless animal, especially one of a breed of hornless cattle. See also red poll

verb

[with object]
  • 1record the opinion or vote of: over half of those polled do not believe the prime minister usually tells the truth
  • [no object, with adverbial] (of a candidate in an election) receive a specified number of votes: the Green candidate polled 3.6 per cent
  • 2 Telecommunications & Computing check the status of (a device), especially as part of a repeated cycle: the network manager can also use the software to poll each Mac on the net
  • 3cut the horns off (an animal, especially a young cow).
  • archaic cut off the top of (a tree or plant), typically to encourage further growth; pollard: there were some beautiful willows, and now the idiot Parson has polled them into wretched stumps

Derivatives

pollee

Pronunciation: /pəʊˈliː/
noun
poll (sense 1 of the verb)

Origin:

Middle English (in the sense 'head'): perhaps of Low German origin. The original sense was 'head', and hence 'an individual person among a number', from which developed the sense 'number of people ascertained by counting of heads' and then 'counting of heads or of votes' (17th century)