I. poll 1 W3 /pəʊl $ poʊl/ BrE AmE noun
[ Date: 1600-1700 ; Origin: poll 'head' (13-19 centuries) , from Middle Low German ; from the idea of counting heads ]
1 . [countable] the process of finding out what people think about something by asking many people the same question, or the record of the result SYN opinion poll , survey :
A recent poll found that 80% of Californians support the governor.
Polls indicate that education is the top issue with voters.
Labour is ahead in the polls.
The latest public opinion poll showed that 25% of us consider ourselves superstitious.
conduct/carry out/do a poll
a poll conducted by ‘USA Today’
poll on
a poll on eating habits
poll of
a poll of 1,000 people
2 . go to the polls to vote in an election:
Ten million voters went to the polls.
3 . [singular] British English the process of voting in an election, or the number of votes recorded:
Labour won the election with 40% of the poll.
The result of the poll won’t be known until around midnight.
4 . the polls the place where you can go to vote in an election:
The polls will close in an hour.
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COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ carry out/take/do a poll
A similar poll was carried out among academics in the United States.
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A poll taken last month gave the Democrats a seven-point lead.
▪ conduct a poll formal (=carry out a poll)
The poll was conducted with a sample of 1,023 adults.
▪ a poll shows/indicates/suggests something
Polls show that older voters are most concerned about economic issues.
▪ a poll finds something
Our poll found that 29 percent rated his performance as good.
■ poll + NOUN
▪ poll results/findings
The poll results are very encouraging.
▪ a poll rating (=showing how popular someone is)
His poll ratings keep slipping.
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + poll
▪ an opinion poll (=that measures what people think about something)
A recent opinion poll showed strong support for the government.
▪ an exit poll (=when people are asked how they have just voted)
The exit polls said that 46 percent of women had voted for Obama.
▪ a popularity poll (=measuring how popular someone is)
In most popularity polls, he is in fourth or fifth place.
▪ a local/national/statewide etc poll
Local polls show him leading by only two or three points.
■ phrases
▪ sb’s lead in the polls
Labour soon regained its lead in the polls.
▪ sb’s standing in the polls (=how popular a poll shows them to be)
The President's standing in the polls declined sharply.
▪ be ahead/leading in the polls
The good news is that we are ahead in the polls.
▪ be behind/trailing in the polls
At the moment the Democrats are trailing in the polls.
II. poll 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
1 . to ask a lot of people the same questions in order to find out what they think about a subject:
18% of the women we polled said their husbands had a drinking problem.
2 . to get a particular number of votes in an election:
Labour polled just 4% of the vote.
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THESAURUS
■ ask a question
▪ ask to speak or write to someone to get an answer:
Did you ask about the price?
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They asked me a lot of questions.
▪ inquire/enquire /ɪnˈkwaɪə $ -ˈkwaɪr/ formal to ask someone for information about something:
I’m writing to inquire about the job that was advertised in yesterday’s ‘Times’.
▪ demand especially written to ask a question in a firm or angry way:
‘Why didn’t you call me?’, she demanded.
▪ interview to ask someone questions, to find out if they are suitable for a job, or as part of a television or radio interview:
When they interviewed me for the job, they didn’t mention the salary.
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David Letterman has interviewed all the stars.
▪ poll to officially ask a lot of people in order to find out their opinion on something:
Over 1,000 people were polled for the report.
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64% of the people we polled said that they approved of the way the government had handled the crisis.