poll
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poll¹
- /pɔl/ Australia
- /pəʊl/ UK
- [pɒʊl] UK
- /pɒl/
- /poʊl/ US
- /pol/ Scotland
- /poul/ Wales
Sounds like pole, Pole (both toe–tow merger, excluding /pɒl/ pronunciation) · Rhymes with -əʊl
Where it comes from
From Middle English pol, polle ("scalp, pate"), from or cognate with Middle Dutch pol, pōle, polle (“top, summit; head”), from Proto-West Germanic *poll, from Proto-Germanic *pullaz (“round object, head, top”), from Proto-Indo-European *bolno-, *bōwl- (“orb, round object, bubble”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew- (“to blow, swell”).
Akin to Scots pow (“head, crown, scalp, skull”), Saterland Frisian pol (“round, full, brimming”, adjective), German Low German Polle, Poll (“round object, ball”), German Low German Poller (“head, tree-top, bulb”), Danish puld (“crown of a hat”), Swedish dialectal pull (“head”).
Meaning "collection of votes" is first recorded 1625, from the notion of "counting heads".
noun polls · pol · pole
-
A survey of people, usually statistically analyzed to gauge wider public opinion.
Similar: survey
- A formal vote held in order to ascertain the most popular choice. The student council had a poll to see what people want served in the cafeteria.
- A polling place (usually as plural, polling places). The polls close at 8 p.m.
- The result of the voting, the total number of votes recorded.
-
The head, particularly the scalp or pate upon which hair (normally) grows.
[…]the doctor, as if to hear better, had taken off his powdered wig, and sat there, looking very strange indeed with his own close-cropped black poll.
Similar: scalp
- A mass of people, a mob or muster, considered as a head count. We are the greater poll, and in true fear They gave us our demands.
- The broad or butt end of an axe or a hammer.
- The pollard or European chub, a kind of fish.
verb polls · polling · polled · pol · pole
- To take, record the votes of (an electorate).
- To solicit mock votes from (a person or group).
- To vote at an election. Mr. Millbank's friends were not disheartened, as it was known that the leading members of Mr. Rigby's Committee had polled; whereas his opponent's were principally reserved.
- To register or deposit, as a vote; to elicit or call forth, as votes or voters. He polled a hundred votes more than his opponent.
- To cut off; to remove by clipping, shearing, etc.; to mow or crop. to poll the hair; to poll wool; to poll grass
- To cut the hair of (a creature). when he [Absalom] polled his head
- To remove the horns of (an animal).
- To remove the top or end of; to clip; to lop. to poll a tree
- To (repeatedly) request the status of something (such as a computer or printer on a network). The network hub polled the department’s computers to determine which ones could still respond.
- To be judged in a poll. The election was a resounding defeat for Robert McCartney who polled badly in the six constituencies he contested and even lost his own Assembly seat in North Down.
- To extort from; to plunder; to strip. Especially in conjunction with pill for emphasis. they slew Julius Caesar, who neither pilled nor polled the country but only was a favorer and suborner of all them that did rob and spoil, by his countenance and authority.
- To impose a tax upon.
- To pay as one's personal tax. the man that polled but twelve pence for his head
- To enter, as polls or persons, in a list or register; to enroll, especially for purposes of taxation; to enumerate one by one. polling the reformed churches whether they equalize in number those of his three kingdoms
- To cut or shave smooth or even; to cut in a straight line without indentation. a polled deed
adjective pol · pole
- Bred without horns, and thus hornless. Poll Hereford
poll²
- /pɒl/ UK
Rhymes with -ɒl
Where it comes from
Perhaps a shortening of Polly, a common name for pet parrots.
noun polls
- A pet parrot.
poll³
- /pɒl/
Rhymes with -ɒl
Where it comes from
From Ancient Greek πολλοί (polloí, “the many, the masses”), as in hoi polloi.
noun polls
- One who does not try for honors at university, but is content to take a degree merely; a passman.
Poll⁴
- /pɑl/ US
- /pɒl/ UK
Rhymes with -ɒl
Where it comes from
From Polly, by rhyming with Molly, from Mary.
proper noun
- A diminutive of the female given name Mary. "A gentleman, please Sir," said the blushing Mary, (or Poll as some unrespective and light-minded persons have misnamed her), and the gentleman entered.
- A common pet name for a parrot.
noun Polls
- A disreputable woman.
Poll⁵
Where it comes from
From Paul.
proper noun
- A surname transferred from the given name.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: canvass, canvas, crown, pate, poll parrot, pollard, questionnaire, study, consultation, voter, balloting, vote, ballot, electoral, plebiscite, referendum
Translations
Every language
noun a survey of a particular group — see also survey
| Español | encuesta, sondeo |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 투표 tupyo, 여론조사 yeoronjosa |
| 中文 | 投票 tóupiào, 選舉 /选举 xuǎnjǔ |
| Português | enquete, sondagem, sugestões, inquérito, avaliação, pesquisa |
| Français | sondage |
| Deutsch | Umfrage |
| Italiano | sondaggio |
| Ελληνικά | ψηφοφορία psifoforía, δημοσκόπηση dimoskópisi |
| Русский | опро́с oprós |
| Tiếng Việt | cuộc thăm dò ý kiến |
noun a formal vote — see also vote, election
| हिन्दी | मतदान matdān |
|---|---|
| Português | votação |
| Deutsch | Urne |
| Italiano | votazione, scrutinio |
| Русский | голосова́ние golosovánije |
noun polling place, a place to vote
| Português | urna |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | Wahllokal |
| Ελληνικά | εκλογικό κέντρο eklogikó kéntro |
| Русский | избира́тельный уча́сток izbirátelʹnyj učástok, избира́тельный пункт izbirátelʹnyj punkt |
verb to solicit mock votes from (a person or group)
| Español | encuesta, encuestas |
|---|---|
| Italiano | raccogliere voti |
verb to remove the horns of (an animal)
| Italiano | tagliare le corna |
|---|
Talk about this word "poll." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/poll. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. poll. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/poll "poll." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/poll.Cite this
@misc{poll_2026,
title = {poll},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/poll},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
