Definition of POLL

head; the top or back of the head; nape… See the full definition

poll


noun


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ˈpōl


Definition of

poll

(Entry 1 of 2)


1


:



head


2


a



:

the top or back of the head


b


:



nape


3



:

the broad or flat end of a striking tool (such as a hammer)


4


a


(1)



:

the casting or recording of the votes of a body of persons


(2)



:

a counting of votes cast


b



:

the place where votes are cast or recorded





usually used in plural


at the

polls


c



:

the period of time during which votes may be cast at an election


d



:

the total number of votes recorded

a heavy

poll



5


a



:

a questioning or canvassing of persons selected at random or by quota to obtain information or opinions to be analyzed


b



:

a record of the information so obtained

poll


verb


polled


;


polling


;


polls

Definition of

poll

(Entry 2 of 2)


transitive verb


1


a



:

to cut off or cut short the hair or wool of

:



crop


,


shear



b



:

to cut off or cut short (a material, such as wool)


2


a



:

to cut off or back the top of (something, such as a tree)


specifically


:



pollard


b



:

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


3


a



:

to receive and record the votes of


b



:

to request each member of to declare a vote individually



poll

the assembly


4



:

to receive (votes) in an election


5



:

to question or canvass in a poll


6



:

to check (devices, such as several computer terminals sharing a single line) in sequence for messages waiting to be transmitted


intransitive verb



:

to cast one’s vote at a poll

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Other Words from

poll

Verb


pollee


pō-​ˈlē



noun


poller


ˈpō-​lər



noun

Synonyms for

poll

Synonyms: Noun


bean

,


block

[


slang

]

,


dome

,


head

,


mazard


(


or


mazzard

)

[


chiefly dialect

]

,


nob

,


noddle

,


noggin

,


noodle

,


nut

[


slang

]

,


pate

Synonyms: Verb


canvass


(


also


canvas

)

,


interview

,


solicit

,


survey


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Examples of

poll

in a Sentence


Noun


The magazine conducted a

poll

to find out the favorite 100 movies of all time.


A recent

poll

shows a decrease in the number of teenagers who smoke.



The polls

are open until 8:00 tonight.


Verb


About half of the people

polled

had tried smoking.


The conservative candidate

polled

more than 10,000 votes in the last election.


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Recent Examples on the Web: Noun


The

poll

surveyed 1,000 likely voters between Thursday and Sunday and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.




Michael Lee,

Washington Examiner

, “Republicans less likely to buy Coca-Cola products after company opposed Georgia election law: Poll,” 22 Apr. 2021


Russellville’s boys’ team, ranked fourth in the Class 4A/5A

poll

, is 17-0.





al

, “Week 11 prep soccer polls: Spain Park boys take top spot in Class 7A,” 22 Apr. 2021


An online

poll

of Survivor Corps members gave cause for hope.




Cliff Pinckard,

cleveland

, “Cleveland Metroparks wants to add island, cove to Lake Erie: The Wake Up for Thursday, April 22, 2021,” 22 Apr. 2021


Jones’s support had grown significantly since coming in at 3 percent in a February CNU

poll

, while Herring’s support stayed the same.





Washington Post

, “CNU poll finds McAuliffe with significant lead in race for Democratic nomination for governor,” 22 Apr. 2021


The Minnesota State Mankato baseball team (22-4, 18-3 NSIC) moved up 11 spots to 14th in this week’s National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Division II

poll

.





Star Tribune

, “Gophers gymnast Lexy Ramler receives top national award,” 21 Apr. 2021


Every single public opinion

poll

demonstrates over and over again that the winning position is in favor of cannabis reform.




Ryan Bort,

Rolling Stone

, “Steve DeAngelo, the ‘Father of Legal Cannabis,’ on What’s Next for the Movement,” 20 Apr. 2021


When a July 2020 Gallup

poll

asked people to describe their experience interacting with police over the prior year, 59 percent of Black respondents described the interaction as positive, compared to 79 percent of White respondents.





San Diego Union-Tribune

, “Column: Law enforcement leaders responded to the U-T’s racial disparities project. They missed the point,” 20 Apr. 2021


In a separate interview over the weekend on CNN’s State of the Union, in fact, Dr. Fauci expressed frustration with a

poll

showing that a little less than half of GOP voters don’t want anything to do with the coronavirus vaccine.




Andy Meek,

Forbes

, “WATCH: Marshawn Lynch Interviews Dr. Fauci And Asks Better Questions Than Most Journalists,” 20 Apr. 2021


Recent Examples on the Web: Verb


Yonhy Lescano, a left-leaning populist and 20-year veteran of Congress, is the only candidate to

poll

in double digits (around a measly 13%).





The Economist

, “The least bad option In Peru’s presidential race there is no clear front runner,” 27 Mar. 2021


The prohibition on people giving water within 150 feet of a polling station to people standing in line, although drinks can be given to

poll

workers to distribute and water stations made generally available?




The Editors,

National Review

, “Mighty Casey Gets Woke,” 3 Apr. 2021


On Tuesday, the group delivered 10 pizzas from Rosati’s Pizza to

poll

workers working at Brookfield City Hall.




Evan Casey,

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

, “The Pizza to the Polls organization has sent over 3,800 pizzas to 317 polling places this year, including Brookfield,” 22 Oct. 2020


Both surveys

poll

only people who’ve been living in Georgia at least a year.




Shawn Tully,

Fortune

, “Georgia Senate races: Data scientist’s final prediction has Democrats taking both seats,” 5 Jan. 2021


The arguments have so far failed to connect, in part because many of its core provisions

poll

strongly — even with Republicans.




Emily Cochrane,

BostonGlobe.com

, “Republicans struggle to halt increasingly popular $1.9 trillion economic rescue package,” 19 Feb. 2021


Nevada is a complicated state that can be difficult to

poll

.




David M. Drucker,

Washington Examiner

, “Biden defeats Trump in Nevada, Associated Press says,” 7 Nov. 2020


For the 2020 election, the organization has developed its own survey to

poll

voters by mail, phone, and online to help inform its election night decisions.




Amy Mckeever,

National Geographic

, “Counting votes on Election Day has always been complex—and it may be more so in 2020,” 29 Oct. 2020


But the exchanges showed Pence take aim at one of the few areas where Trump, and Republicans at large, manage to consistently

poll

ahead of Democrats.




Rey Mashayekhi,

Fortune

, “Where Harris and Pence won and lost in the vice presidential debate,” 8 Oct. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word ‘poll.’ Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors.

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.


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First Known Use of

poll

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at

sense 1

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at

transitive sense 1a

History and Etymology for

poll

Noun

Middle English

pol, polle

, from Middle Low German

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Learn More about

poll

From the Editors at Merriam-Webster

Dictionary Entries near

poll


polka


polka dot


polka mazurka


poll


pollack


pollam


pollan


See More Nearby Entries

Phrases Related to

poll


opinion poll


polling booth


polling day


polling place


polling station


the polls

Statistics for

poll

Last Updated

24 Apr 2021


Look-up Popularity

Cite this Entry

“Poll.”

Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary

, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/poll. Accessed 30 Apr. 2021.

Style:

MLA


MLA



Chicago



APA



Merriam-Webster

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More Definitions for

poll

poll



noun

English Language Learners Definition of

poll

(Entry 1 of 2)



:

an activity in which several or many people are asked a question or a series of questions in order to get information about what most people think about something



:

the record of votes that were made by people in an election


British



:

the number of votes made in an election

poll



verb

English Language Learners Definition of

poll

(Entry 2 of 2)



:

to ask (several or many people) a question or a series of questions in order to get information about what most people think about something



:

to receive (a specified number or percentage of votes) in an election


See the full definition for

poll

in the English Language Learners Dictionary

poll


noun



ˈpōl


Kids Definition of

poll

(Entry 1 of 2)


1



:

the casting or recording of the votes or opinions of a number of persons

A

poll

showed a decrease in student interest.


2



:

the place where votes are cast





usually used in pl.


We go to the

polls

tomorrow.

poll


verb


polled


;


polling

Kids Definition of

poll

(Entry 2 of 2)



:

to question in order to get information or opinions about something

She

polled

her classmates on their study habits.

poll


noun



ˈpōl


Medical Definition of

poll

(Entry 1 of 3)



:

the head or a part of it


especially



:

the region between the ears of some quadrupeds (as a horse)

poll


transitive verb

Medical Definition of

poll

(Entry 2 of 3)



:

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

poll


adjective

Medical Definition of

poll

(Entry 3 of 3)



:

having no horns

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More from Merriam-Webster on

poll

Thesaurus:

All synonyms and antonyms for

poll

Nglish:

Translation of

poll

for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English:

Translation of

poll

for Arabic Speakers

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poll

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poll

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