poll1

[pohl] /poʊl/
noun
1.
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.
2.
Usually, polls. the place where votes are taken.
3.
the registering of votes, as at an election.
4.
the voting at an election.
5.
the number of votes cast.
6.
the numerical result of the voting.
7.
an enumeration or a list of individuals, as for purposes of taxing or voting.
8.
poll tax.
9.
a person or individual in a number or list.
10.
the head, especially the part of it on which the hair grows.
11.
the back of the head.
12.
the rear portion of the head of a horse; the nape.
13.
the part of the head between the ears of certain animals, as the horse and cow.
14.
the broad end or face of a hammer.
verb (used with object)
15.
to take a sampling of the attitudes or opinions of.
16.
to receive at the polls, as votes.
17.
to enroll (someone) in a list or register, as for purposes of taxing or voting.
18.
to take or register the votes of (persons).
19.
to deposit or cast at the polls, as a vote.
20.
to bring to the polls, as voters.
21.
to cut short or cut off the hair, wool, etc., of (an animal); crop; clip; shear.
22.
to cut short or cut off (hair, wool, etc.).
23.
to cut off the top of (a tree); pollard.
24.
to cut off or cut short the horns of (cattle).
verb (used without object)
25.
to vote at the polls; give one's vote.
Origin
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 forms
pollable, adjective
poller, noun
repolling, noun

poll2

[pol] /pɒl/
noun
1.
(especially at Cambridge University, England)
2.
the body of students who read for or obtain a degree without honors.
3.
Also called poll degree. pass degree.
Origin
1785-95; apparently < Greek polloí, in hoi polloí the many; see poly-

poll3

[pol] /pɒl/
noun
1.
polly.
Examples from the web for poll
  • Please help us answer this important question by responding to our poll.
  • One of these surveys claims to be the first genuinely global opinion poll.
  • There were also doubts about the impartiality of the electoral commissions that organised the poll.
  • View the designs and let us know your favorite in the poll below.
  • The outcome of the national poll is in little doubt.
  • And the ethnic and political rumbling along the rift won't likely stop with a mere presidential poll.
  • Hundreds of readers have responded so far to the big-city mayor poll.
  • Funny how this happens after the presidential approval ratting poll released was the lowest since he took office.
  • Cast your vote in the poll on the right side of the review page.
  • The correctness of a scientific result or theory is never determined by a vote or poll.
British Dictionary definitions for poll

poll

/pəʊl/
noun
1.
the casting, recording, or counting of votes in an election; a voting
2.
the result or quantity of such a voting: a heavy poll
3.
Also called opinion poll
  1. 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
  2. the results or record of such a canvassing
4.
any counting or enumeration: a poll of the number of men with long hair
5.
short for poll tax
6.
a list or enumeration of people, esp for taxation or voting purposes
7.
the striking face of a hammer
8.
the occipital or back part of the head of an animal
verb (mainly transitive)
9.
to receive (a vote or quantity of votes): he polled 10 000 votes
10.
to receive, take, or record the votes of: he polled the whole town
11.
to canvass (a person, group, area, etc) as part of a survey of opinion
12.
(mainly US) to take the vote, verdict, opinion, etc, individually of each member (of a jury, conference, etc)
13.
(sometimes intransitive) to cast (a vote) in an election
14.
(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.
to remove or cut short the horns of (cattle)
Word Origin
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
Word Origin and History for poll
n.

"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.

"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).

"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 in Technology


To check the status of an input line, sensor, or memory location to see if a particular external event has been registered.
Contrast interrupt.
[Jargon File]
(1995-01-31)