/pəʊl/ (Received-Pronunciation) without the doll–dole merger
[pɒʊl] (Received-Pronunciation) without the doll–dole merger
/pɒl/ Received Pronunciation, doll–dole merger
Etymology
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".
Meanings
(of kinds of livestock which typically have horns) Bred without horns, and thus hornless.
Otherwise, both horned and poll sheep continue to be bred from an inner stud. 1970, The Pastoral review, volume 80, page 457:
Red Poll cows
Poll Hereford
About 15000 cattle, comprising 10000 Hereford and Poll Hereford, 4000 Aberdeen Angus and 1000 Shorthorn and Poll Shorthorn, are grazed [...] 1960, Frank O'Loghlen, Frank H. Johnston, Cattle country: an illustrated survey of the Australian beef cattle industry, a complete directory of the studs, page 85:
Sheep, that is, the Horned sort, and those without Horns, called Poll Sheep [...] 1757, The monthly review, or, literary journal, volume 17, page 416:
/pəʊl/ (Received-Pronunciation) without the doll–dole merger
[pɒʊl] (Received-Pronunciation) without the doll–dole merger
/pɒl/ Received Pronunciation, doll–dole merger
Etymology
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".
Meanings
A survey of people, usually statistically analyzed to gauge wider public opinion.
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.
All soldiers quartered in place are to remove […] and not to return till one day after the poll is ended. 1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC:
The other returns having come in, the result of the poll, that Sir James Graham had been superseded by Major Aglionby, was declared at Carlisle soon after 11 a.m. 1942 May-June, Charles E. Lee, “The Brampton Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 140, relating to an election in 1837:
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.
(qualifier:now rare outside veterinary medicine contexts) The head, particularly the scalp or pate upon which hair (normally) grows.
The main plate is formed in two halves, the upper plate having small sideplates, ear guards, an escutcheon plate (blank), and a brass plume-holder, as well as a hinged poll plate. 2005, Stuart W. Pyhrr; Donald J. LaRocca; Dirk H. Breiding; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), The Armored Horse in Europe, 1480-1620, Metropolitan Museum of Art, →ISBN, page 53:
[…]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. 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:
And you might perceive the president and general manager, Mr. R. G. Atterbury, with his priceless polished poll, busy in the main office room dictating letters.. 1908, O. Henry, A Tempered Wind:
(in extended senses of the above) 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. c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
The muster file, rotten and sound, upon my life, amounts not to fifteen thousand poll. c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:
de Umfrage (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · gl colexio electoral (polling place, a place to vote) · oc sondatge (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · el δημοσκόπηση (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · sh anketa (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · pt votação (a formal vote — see also vote, election) · be апыта́нне (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · de Urne (a formal vote — see also vote, election) · pt sondagem (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · be галасава́нне (a formal vote — see also vote, election) · it sondaggio (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · ka საარჩევნო უბანი (polling place, a place to vote) · hu szavazatszám (the result of the voting, the total number of votes recorded) · ru опро́с (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · es encuesta (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · hu szavazóhelyiség (polling place, a place to vote) · ru голосова́ние (a formal vote — see also vote, election) · ko 여론조사 (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · pt urna (polling place, a place to vote) · ka კენჭისყრა (a formal vote — see also vote, election) · fo spurnakanning (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · pl ankieta (the result of the voting, the total number of votes recorded) · pl ankieta (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · cmn 選舉 /选举 (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · uk опи́тування (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · it scrutinio (a formal vote — see also vote, election) · pt inquérito (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · pt pesquisa (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · hu voksolás (a formal vote — see also vote, election) · bg анкета (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · ko 투표 (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · de Wahllokal (polling place, a place to vote) · cs anketa (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · ca sondatge (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · el ψηφοφορία (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · fr sondage (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · sv opinionsundersökning (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · vi cuộc thăm dò ý kiến (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · fo valstað (polling place, a place to vote) · fi äänestyspaikka (polling place, a place to vote) · mi reke (broad or butt end of an axe, adze, or similar tool) · ga vótaíocht (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · pt sugestões (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · lad anketa (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · hu szavazatok száma (the result of the voting, the total number of votes recorded) · hi मतदान (a formal vote — see also vote, election) · fi äänestys (a formal vote — see also vote, election) · bg изборен резултат (the result of the voting, the total number of votes recorded) · hu közvélemény-kutatás (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · gl votación (a formal vote — see also vote, election) · ca enquesta (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · gl enquisa (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · ca sondeig (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · ru избира́тельный уча́сток (polling place, a place to vote) · hu szavazás (a formal vote — see also vote, election) · fi mielipidemittaus (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · ia inquesta (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · bg помещение за гласуване (polling place, a place to vote) · fi äänestys (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · cmn 投票 (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · ru избира́тельный пункт (polling place, a place to vote) · bg гласуване (a formal vote — see also vote, election) · uk ви́борча дільни́ця (polling place, a place to vote) · eo enketo (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · mi āmai (broad or butt end of an axe, adze, or similar tool) · pt enquete (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · uk голосува́ння (a formal vote — see also vote, election) · el εκλογικό κέντρο (polling place, a place to vote) · hu szavazókör (polling place, a place to vote) · ka ხმის მიცემა (a formal vote — see also vote, election) · es sondeo (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · it votazione (a formal vote — see also vote, election) · izh kanta (broad or butt end of an axe, adze, or similar tool) · ka გამოკითხვა (a survey of a particular group — see also survey) · pt avaliação (a survey of a particular group — see also survey)
/pəʊl/ (Received-Pronunciation) without the doll–dole merger
[pɒʊl] (Received-Pronunciation) without the doll–dole merger
/pɒl/ Received Pronunciation, doll–dole merger
Etymology
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".
Meanings
(transitive) To take, record the votes of (an electorate).
(transitive) To solicit mock votes from (a person or group).
(intransitive) 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. 1844, B[enjamin] Disraeli, chapter IV, in Coningsby; or, The New Generation. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, book V, page 271:
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.
poll for points of faith his trusty vote 1717, Thomas Tickell, An Epistle from a Lady in England to a Gentleman at Avignon:
To cut off; to remove by clipping, shearing, etc.; to mow or crop.
Who, as he polled off his dart's head, so sure he had decreed
That all the counsels of their war he would poll off like it. [1611?], Homer, “(please specify |book=I to XXIV)”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., The Iliads of Homer Prince of Poets. […], London: […] Nathaniell Butter, →OCLC; republished as The Iliads of Homer, Prince of Poets, […], new edition, volume (please specify the book number), London: Charles Knight and Co., […], 1843, →OCLC:
to poll the hair; to poll wool; to poll grass
(transitive) To cut the hair of (a creature).
when he [Absalom] polled his head 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Bible Samuel/#14 2 Samuel:14–26:
1579-1603, Thomas North, Plutarch's Lives
His death did so grieve them that they polled themselves; they clipped off their horse and mule's hairs.
(transitive) To remove the horns of (an animal).
To remove the top or end of; to clip; to lop.
to poll a tree
(transitive) 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.
(intransitive, with adverb) 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. 2008, Joanne McEvoy, The politics of Northern Ireland, page 171:
(obsolete) To extort from; to plunder; to strip. Especially in conjunction with pill for emphasis.
Which pols and pils the poore in piteous wize 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 6:
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. 1579, Thomas North, Plutarch's Parallel Lives, Life of Brutus, paragraph 35:
To impose a tax upon.
To pay as one's personal tax.
the man that polled but twelve pence for his head 1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Third Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC:
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 1649, J[ohn] Milton, ΕΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΆΣΤΗΣ [Eikonoklástēs] […], London: […] Matthew Simmons, […], →OCLC:
To cut or shave smooth or even; to cut in a straight line without indentation.
kix thīu-îe (to vote) · it raccogliere voti (to solicit mock votes from (a person or group)) · es encuestas (to solicit mock votes from (a person or group)) · ga dí-adharc (to remove the horns of (an animal)) · nl peilen (to solicit mock votes from (a person or group)) · es encuesta (to solicit mock votes from (a person or group)) · fi leikata sarvet (to remove the horns of (an animal)) · it tagliare le corna (to remove the horns of (an animal)) · fi suorittaa mielipidetutkimus (to solicit mock votes from (a person or group))